The Secret Engagement
by LucindaRemyMalfoy
Summary: What happens when Draco proposes to Hermione...but doesn't tell his parents? What if an old foe comes back for revenge? And the biggest question, can love really conquer all, or are some bonds too strong to break?
1. Chapter 1

"Hermione relax, everyone will love you." Said Draco, pulling her into his arms.

"How do you know? I mean last time I checked your dad couldn't stand me."

"But that was before I loved you." He said beaming down at her. "And before I proposed to you." He pressed a soft kiss to her lips and she sighed contentedly.

"But what if he still doesn't like me?"

"Then it still won't matter and we'll still get married and have lots of little Malfoy's running around."

Hermione rolled her eyes and smacked him in the arm playfully. "How can you feel comfortable marrying me if your dad doesn't approve?"

"Because whether or not he 'approves' doesn't change how I feel about you Love."

She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, giving him a quick kiss.

Draco chuckled and pulled her closer. He brought her lips to his once more and slid his tongue along her bottom lip, asking for entrance.

She obliged and their kiss quickly went from demure to heated within a matter of seconds.

Draco ran his hands up and down her sides, slightly annoyed that she had already gotten dressed, but more than pleased at her choice, a green silk dress.

He led her back to the bed, never breaking the kiss. Hermione's knees hit the edge of the bed and she fell back, chuckling lightly.

"We have guests coming Draco." She scolded playfully.

"You don't seem to be too concerned." He retorted with a smirk.

She blushed and attempted to slide off the bed, but Draco leaned forward, pressing his lips against hers again.

He began kissing her neck and nibbling on her ear. She let out small moan and threaded her hands through his silky hair.

"Draco we really shouldn't—".

He chuckled, "You always did over think everything."

"I'm not over thinking, I'm being reasonable. The first guests could be here any moment—ohh." She was cut off by Draco's tongue. He had somehow gotten the top of her dress down and was currently licking and kissing her breasts.

"Enjoying yourself?" he asked with a smirk.

She rolled her eyes and pushed him off of her, quickly fixing her dress. "We should go downstairs so we can greet our guests."

"I can think of a few things I'd rather be doing." He said running a hand down her arm.

"Well," she said standing up and putting her hands on his shoulders, "What if I promise to make it worth your while if you wait?"

Draco had to stop himself from moaning as she nipped at his neck.

"Well since you promised." He said smiling down at her.

She laughed and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Then let's get downstairs."

She was ready to meet Malfoy's parents. The question was whether or not they were ready to meet her.

Malfoy may have let them know that he was seeing Hermione, but he failed to mention one very important detail.

The engagement.


	2. Chapter 2

**Quick note, I wanted to know if anyone wanted me to maybe continue What Happens in the Library Stays in the Library. It was originally supposed to be a one shot, but a lot of people liked it. Would you guys want me to maybe right one or two more chapters on it? I know some people like the whole happily ever after thing at the end so I could maybe try to end it like that. Let me know what you guys think.**

* * *

"So my son tells me that you work as a mediwitch,"

Hermione was currently sitting across the dinner table from her future in-laws. She wasn't exactly comfortable, but it wasn't as bad as she had expected. Well…Narcissa wasn't as bad.

"Yes, I've worked there since we left Hogwarts."

"Isn't that profession a little beneath your range of skills Miss Granger?" asked Lucius.

Draco noticed Hermione bristle at the comment and he quickly went about trying to fix the situation, "Father, did you enjoy your trip?"

Lucius and Narcissa had travelled to America for a quick vacation away from everyone. Ever since the war had ended the Malfoy name had been slandered, and even though they had switched sides, Lucius and Narcissa had a lot of trouble come their way.

"Oh, it was lovely." Said Narcissa smiling at Hermione.

"I do believe I had asked Hermione a question." Said Lucius, with a smirk identical to the one Draco always wore.

"I'm going to go get the dessert." Hermione stood and quickly walked into the kitchen, slamming open the door a little harder than necessary.

Draco shot his father a look before following Hermione to the kitchen.

"Love," he said wrapping his arms around her from behind. "You know how he is. He'll warm up to you."

Hermione tensed up and pulled away from him, reaching for the chocolate cake she'd made earlier that day.

"Hermione, don't let it get to you."

"I'm not." She said, refusing to look at him.

She busied herself with pulling plates out of the cabinet, getting silverware out, and grabbing a cake knife.

"You know we have house elves to do that." He said softly.

She snorted, but didn't respond.

"Hermione please look at me." he pleaded, taking her hand.

She sighed, but allowed him to pull her into a hug. She was trying to get Lucius to like her, but it seemed that no matter what she did he always seemed to have a smart comment or nasty remark.

"They'll grow to love you, just like I did." He said kissing her forehead.

"Tell that to your father."

"Hey, my mother likes you." He said trying to make her smile.

"Your mother feels bad for me."

"She knows how hard it is to deal with him a lot of the time. He's not exactly the best husband."

Hermione shook her head, she was acting childish. Of course it would take time for her father to come to terms with their engagement. It wasn't everyday that his only son was getting married.

"How'd he take it when you told him we were getting married?" she asked looking up at him.

"I'll tell you about it later, for now let's just get back out there."

Hermione smiled and nodded picking up the plates in one hand and the cake in the other.

"Draco, be a dear and grab the door."

* * *

"This food was really lovely." Said Narcissa as she and Lucius prepared to depart. "Wasn't it dear?"

Lucius merely nodded in somewhat of an agreement and took his wife's hand. "We should be on our way."

Draco nodded and shook his father's hand and hugged his mother briefly.

Lucius was already out the door preparing to apparate home, but Narcissa pulled Hermione into a hug. "He'll grow on you, I promise." She whispered and quickly followed her husband outside.

Hermione shut the door and slid down the wall with a relieved sigh. Sure, the night could have gone better, but it also could have gone much worse.

"You were magnificent Love." Said Draco taking her hand and leading her upstairs to their bedroom.

"Why thank you. Although I bet your father has a different opinion of me."  
she said chuckling.

"Who cares? They're gone, and now we have the house to ourselves." He said, a slow smile spreading across his face.

"Oh, and what would you like to do?"

"Well if I recall correctly you said something about making my wait worthwhile."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his neck, "I did, didn't I?"

He undid the tie at the back of her dress and then picked her up and carried her bridal style to the bed, laying her down in the middle of it.

"You look amazing." He said, marveling at how angelic she looked, and that she was all his.

"You have on too many clothes." She smiled and crawled forward towards him and unbuttoned his white dress shirt.

She ran her hands over the smooth planes of his chest. He had a tall, lithe body that was toned, but not overly muscular. He moaned when he felt her tongue graze over his nipple.

"Lay back." He said pushing back to the middle of the bed, and crawling so he was lying between her legs.

Hermione knew all too well where he was going, but she had made him a promise and she intended to keep it.

"I have a better idea." She said, moving so that he was on his back and she was over him.

She quickly undid his belt and slid his pants off, leaving him in just his silk boxers.

She moved back up to his mouth and pressed a scorching kiss to his lips, leaving them both breathless. Then she began kissing and nipping her way down his neck, across his chest and down his taut stomach.

She kissed the bulge in his boxers and looked up at him seductively. "Do you want me?"

He groaned and unconsciously moved his hips toward her. She chuckled and slid his boxers off, tossing them into the corner of the room, freeing him from the confines. He stood proud and erect and she couldn't help but stare. No matter how many times she saw him, he never ceased to amaze her at his size.

She took him into her hand and slowly began moving her hand up and down, earning an approving moan from Draco.

She looked up at him and his eyes were closed, his hips moving slightly with her hand. She sped up her pace and brought her mouth to the tip, before taking all of him into her mouth.

She could feel the muscles in his stomach tense up and she knew he was close.

"Hermione," he grabbed her arms and pulled her up, crushing his lips to hers.

He flipped them over so that he was on top and began leaving small hickies on Hermione's pale skin.

She moaned under his touch and arched her back towards him. He smiled and brought his lips down to her breasts, tracing slow circles around the outside before taking her nipple into his mouth.

Hermione wasn't sure how much more of Draco's teasing she could take.

"Draco, please."

He smirked and slid his hand into her underwear, noticing immediately how wet she was.

"Please what, Love?" he asked as he slid her underwear off.

He slid one finger into her and she moaned, arching her back up towards him.

If he didn't hurry up he was going to come without ever being inside her.

"Please what?" he repeated again.

She looked up at him and smiled, bringing his lips down to her. "Make love to me."


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you to everybody who has been reading! I really appreciate it (: I'll try to update at least once or twice a day, seeing as I'm on break. So I hope you enjoy this chapter. **

* * *

Hermione awoke to the sound of kitchen clatter. She sat up in bed and looked to see that Draco was nowhere to be found.

She slid out of bed, grabbed one of Draco's t-shirts off of the floor, and headed downstairs.

She walked into the kitchen and saw Draco cooking her breakfast for the first time…ever.

"Draco dear, are you actually cooking?"

He turned around and was wearing the most adorable apron, with a smile plastered on his face.

"Of course Love. I figured you were in need of a good start to your day."

She smiled and walked over to him and kissed his cheek. "Well it smells amazing. Did you cook it yourself or did you have Wispy make it?"

He blushed a fiery shade of crimson and mumbled something unintelligible.

"What was that?"

"I did some of it…but Wispy helped. I just wanted to make sure everything was perfect for you."

Hermione was genuinely touched by his thoughtfulness, even if he didn't do it all by himself, it was a start. He had never cooked anything before, especially since Lucius and Narcissa always had lots of house elves.

Draco really had come a long way since she'd first met him at Hogwarts in their first year. He'd gone through a lot, especially with his choice to turn away from the Dark Lord, going against his father's wishes, and saving Hermione from Bellatrix.

He had even tried to at least get along with her two best friends Ron and Harry. It'd been a bit of a struggle at the beginning, especially with Ron, but as time went on they learned to tolerate each other, at least for Hermione's sake.

"Well I think it's perfect."

He smiled and used his wand to place two plates on the table. "Well I do believe breakfast is served."

He pointed his wand at the food in the pans and they floated over to the table ahead of them.

"My, my, my don't I feel special." Said Hermione as Draco pulled her chair out for her.

He just chuckled and sat down in the chair across from her.

"So what do you have planned for the day?" he asked after they began eating.

"I was going to go meet up with Harry and Ron at The Leaky Cauldron." She said taking a sip of her coffee.

Draco never understood how she could drink that nasty concoction of three parts sugar and one part coffee, but he made it for her none the less.

"I'm sure that'll be nice. Do tell them I said hello." He said, smirking.

"Oh, you can tell them yourself. I told them you'd be joining us."

Draco had been taking a sip of his drink while she was talking, and almost choked.

"Are you alright?" she asked, attempting to suppress a smile once his coughing fit had ceased.

He glared at her, "Why would you tell them I was coming?"

"Because I didn't want to go alone, and I think it'd be nice if we could all spend some time together. You three are the most important men in my life."

Draco stopped to think. He knew that there was no way out of going to The Leaky Cauldron, especially if it was something Hermione really wanted him to do, but he could use this to his advantage.

"What's in it for me if I go?" he asked, a slow smile forming on his face.

"What do you want?"

"You to wear Slytherin colors at our school reunion next week."

Hermione's eyes went wide and she stared at him in disbelief. "Have you completely lost your mind? There is no way I'm showing up in your colors. I'm the Gryffindor Lioness for Merlin's sake!"

"Then I guess I'm not going."

"Then I guess we're not having sex." She stood up and brought her dishes into the kitchen and began cleaning off the plates.

Meanwhile Draco sat at the table trying to come up with any kind of way around his current predicament.

He stood slowly, bringing his plate with him, and walked over to Hermione at the sink.

"So you would go without sex just to punish me?"

She snorted, "I can handle it, question is can you?" she looked up at him, a defiant smile on her lips.

"Damn it Hermione." He cursed, running a hand through his hair. "What time did you tell them we would be there?"

"Around three." She said, refusing to look up at him.

"Fine. I'm going to get ready."

As he sulked upstairs leaving a triumphant Hermione behind him.

* * *

At half past three Draco and Hermione arrived at the Leaky Cauldron.

"Are you sure I need to be here? I'm sure that Potter and Weasley don't want me here anymore than I want to be here."

"Yes Draco, I'm sure." She said, locating Ron and Harry at one of the tables by the window. She had long given up trying to get Draco to call them by their first names. Some things never changed.

"Hey Harry, hey Ron." She said giving each of them a hug before sitting down.

"You look great Hermione." Said Ron, completely ignoring Draco's presence.

Harry on the other handed reached out his hand, "Nice to see you again Malfoy."

Draco nodded, "Same to you Potter."

"How's work at St. Mungo's?" asked Ron, never once taking his eyes off Hermione.

"It's been really busy lately, but I guess that's a good thing." She said chuckling.

Ron smiled and placed his hand on top of hers. "It really is good to see you again Mione."

She nodded, "It's nice to see both of you as well. I feel like it's been ages since we've all gotten together."

All the while Draco looked as if he was literally using all of his self control not to reach across the table and strangle Ron.

Hermione, noticing the fact, pulled her hand away from Ron's and looked at Harry.

"How've you been Harry? How's Ginny?"

At the mention of the young witch his face immediately lit up. "She's great. We found out she's pregnant not too long ago."

Hermione squealed with excitement, "Oh my goodness, Harry that's wonderful! I'm sure it'll be the cutest little baby ever."

Harry smiled, but Ron looked rather put off by the topic. Draco, thankfully, had relaxed and had his arm slung over the back of Hermione's chair listening to the conversation with a passive interest.

"Could we maybe not talk about you and my sister having a child? It makes it impossible for me to even think about eating." Said Ron, in mock disgust. In reality he was truly happy for Harry and Ginny. And he couldn't wait to be an uncle.

Harry rolled his eyes and turned to Hermione and Draco, "Are you two planning on having children?"

Ron's eyes almost popped out of his head, but nobody except Draco noticed, and he chose to capitalize on this fact.

"Of course. Lots of them if that's what Hermione wants." He said smoothly.

"I would like kids…at some point."

"I'm sure you two will be great parents. Cute kids too…at least if they end up with Malfoy's hair."

Draco couldn't help but chuckle as Hermione attempted to act insulted.

"And Hermione's attitude." Mumbled Ron.

"What was that Weasley?" asked Draco, a sudden edge to his voice.

"I said let's hope the kid ends up with her attitude. We don't need anymore Malfoy's running around."

"Ron!" gasped Hermione.

"What? Do you really expect me to sit here and pretend like we're all friends? You want me to pretend that the first six years at Hogwarts didn't happen? You want me to pretend like Malfoy wasn't the first person to stab us in the back to help his father?"

"Ronald Weasley that is enough!" snapped Hermione, shocking almost everyone in the pub.

"If you can't respect the choices I've made then that's just too bloody bad."

"This isn't about respecting your choices, it's about you sleeping with the enemy." Yelled Ron.

"I'd recommend you not raise your voice when you're speaking to my fiancé." Growled Draco between clenched teeth.

"Or what? You gonna hex me? Oh that's right, you've already done that."

"Ron, I think it's time I get you home." Said Harry, trying to keep the situation from spiraling out of control.

"Why? I think it's time for me to finally tell her what we've all been thinking since they got together."

"And what would that be?" asked Draco, his silver eyes blazing.

"That Hermione could do so much better than a lying, rotten arse like you."

"It seems to me like you're the only person with a problem Weasley."

"You just can't accept the fact that you'll never be good enough for her."

"Draco barked out a laugh, "I think it's you who can't accept the fact that she chose me."

Ron's face had turned a nasty shade of scarlet as he tried to regain what little composure he'd had.

"We all know she only chose you because we couldn't make it after the war. We actually survived something. It's not my fault Hermione wasn't woman enough to stay and face her problems."

The second the words left his lips he regretted them. He had never meant to insult her. He still loved her for Merlin's sake!

Without saying a word Hermione stood from the table and made her way to the exit.

"Hermione wait I didn't mean—"

"You take one step towards her and I swear it will be the last thing you do." Threatened Draco. "You don't know how lucky you are that Hermione has had a positive effect on me, or so help me, I would use the Cruciatus curse on you."

Without another word he went to go find Hermione, hopefully before she had the chance to take everything the idiot had said to heart.


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm soo sorry about the delay guys, I was super busy , but I hope this super long chapter makes up for it (:**

* * *

Hermione apparated back to their home, tears streaming down her face. She had never been so mad in her entire life. Who did Ron think he was insulting Draco, and then insulting her?

She went straight to the kitchen and began looking for her favorite bottle of wine.

When she couldn't find it she called Wispy.

"Do you know where the wine is Wispy?"

A few moments later she was sitting outside on the balcony drinking directly from the bottle.

_How could he think that I ran away from my problems…I didn't…right?_

_I mean just because we didn't work out doesn't make me a bad person. _

_I wasn't the only one who gave up on our relationship!_

_How could he have expected me to stay after all that happened between him and Lavender?_

_It wasn't my fault that we couldn't make it…right?_

Before her thoughts could spiral anymore Draco appeared.

"Hermione,"

Draco had come after he'd searched Diagon Alley for her. He was currently standing in the doorway of the balcony.

"Leave me alone Draco." She took another big swig from the bottle and had to catch herself by grabbing onto the railing.

Draco took a step forward towards her but she held her hand up, "Go away. I don't feel like talking."

"Then let me talk, and you just listen." He said motioning for her to sit at the small table.

She rolled her eyes but did as he asked. The world was spinning and she needed to sit anyway. She was well on her way to being drunk.

"You can't believe what Weasley said. He's just pissed at himself."

"He's right though." She said taking another sip of wine. "I did leave him. I ran away from my problems instead of facing them."

"Hermione, he cheated on you. That's not something you stay and have a discussion over." He said, eyeing how empty the bottle was.

"But he loved me. I should have given him the chance to explain. Instead I just packed my things and left."

"Hermione, it takes two people to make a relationship work, and if one of those people decides to be a bloody idiot and cheat on you, then he clearly doesn't deserve you."

She snorted and took another sip, "Maybe I just was the one who didn't deserve him. I mean Ron was a great guy—"

"Yet I've never once heard you say you loved him."

"Shut up." She attempted to lift the bottle to her lips, but almost tipped backwards in her chair.

Draco walked over to her and took the bottle out of her hand, it was over halfway empty. "For Merlin's sake Hermione, did you drink all this by yourself?"

When she didn't respond he knelt down in front of her, "You can't let him have this big of an effect on you. He's a bloody prick who didn't know what he had until it was too late."

"He's my best friend Draco, and when your best friend tells you something it has every possibility of being the truth because they know you better than anybody." she said, attempting to reach for the bottle.

"Damn it, Hermione." He said pulling her inside and dumping what was left of the wine down the sink. "You never loved Ron the way he loved you, and he knows it. That's why he said what he did."

"How are you defending him? At the pub you looked about ready to hex him into next year." She said, a small smile appearing on her lips.

"Because Weasley and I will never be friends, but when you two get past this you will be again. I'd hate to see you lose a friendship that means so much to you."

Hermione felt herself tearing up again, only because Draco was being so sweet…okay and maybe because she was just this side of plastered.

She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." He said softly.

She leaned her head against his chest and he had his arms around her waist. They stood like that for a while before Hermione yawned.

"How about I make you a nice dinner and you go upstairs and take a nap?" he offered, smiling down at her.

"You already made me breakfast today, aren't you getting tired of cooking?"

"Not if it makes you happy."

She laughed but shook her head, "How about you come lay down with me and then we can both make dinner together?"

"That sounds like an even better idea." He said leading her upstairs.

* * *

"Have you ever considered trying something new?" asked Hermione from her spot in the bathtub.

"What do you mean?" asked Draco, sticking his head out of the shower.

"I mean…don't you ever get…I don't know…bored?"

"Bored with what Hermione?"

"Our sex life!" she exclaimed, slapping the water.

Draco chuckled and turned off the shower. "You mean you want to try something new with sex."

She blushed a bright shade of red now that he was standing in front of her with that smirk on his face.

"Not new per say…just more exciting." She mumbled.

"Exciting how?" he asked, ignoring her obvious embarrassment.

"I don't know Draco," she said making a face at him. "That's why I was asking you."

He chuckled and moved so that he was sitting on the edge of the large bathtub leaning over Hermione.

"Well we've never had sex here."

Her eyes immediately fell to his already erect manhood and she couldn't help but smile, "Don't you think we should be getting ready to go to dinner? I thought we were having dinner with your mother?"

"She can wait." He said with a devilish grin. He slid into the warm water behind Hermione and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Draco if we're going to we should hurry—mmm."

He had begun massaging her back and gently placing kisses along her shoulders.

"What was that Love?" he asked by her ear.

Hermione didn't answer him. She'd been bugging Draco for months about giving her a massage and she was not about to comment on the timing.

He chuckled and kissed below her ear and she purred in approval. "You know you have the weirdest timing. I feel like we need to have dinner with your family more often."

He laughed and asked, "Why?"

"Mmm…because every time we have somewhere to go you seem to be in the mood."

He smirked and continued massaging her, but this time his hands went to her breasts.

"Well would you rather I stop?"

"No," she mumbled.

"I think I should tell my mom we need to reschedule." He said, pausing his ministrations.

She groaned but relaxed back onto him, "That would be rude Draco. I want her to like me."

"She already likes you, besides I'm the one canceling." He argued.

She was about to argue when she felt his hands on her again. The longer he was massaging her, the more distracted she got.

"But if you don't want me to cancel I won't." he said, acting as if he were going to get out of the tub.

"Wait," she said, turning and grabbing his hand. "Maybe just this once you could tell her we can't make it to dinner."

He smirked knowing he'd won. "Alright Love, if that's what you want."

She rolled her eyes but motioned for him to hurry up and let his mother know.

He left the bathtub but returned a few minutes later.

"What did she say?"

"That maybe tomorrow if you weren't too busy at St. Mungo's we could all meet for lunch."

Hermione smiled, "Well that sounds like a great idea."

Draco just rolled his eyes and moved towards Hermione.

"Now, where were we Love?"

She smiled and motioned for him to come to her.

Instead of getting back into the bathtub he turned on the shower and picked her up.

She laughed and swatted his arm, "What are you doing?"

He set her down inside the shower and stepped in after her. he turned to the buttons on the side and turned on all the ceiling showerheads.

"Changing it up a little." He said pulling her into his embrace.

She threaded her hands through his hair and slid her tongue into his mouth.

He pulled away and started kissing and biting her neck, slowly moving his way down to her breasts.

She moaned softly and ran her hands up and down his back.

He pushed her back against the wall and lifted her up so that she had her legs wrapped around his waist.

He ground against her and she dropped her head forward onto his shoulder, biting him lightly.

He groaned and positioned himself at her entrance, but continued to tease her.

"For Merlin's sake Draco, please." She begged.

"Please what?" he asked, trying to keep his control, but struggling.

She moaned louder as he teased her, just barely entering her.

"Please what?"

"Merlin, _fuck me._"

He didn't need to be told twice. He shifted her slightly and then slid into her. They both groaned at the feeling and as Draco increased his pace Hermione felt a warm sensation start to spread throughout her body.

"Just let go." He whispered in her ear.

At that moment her body gave in and he felt every pulse and spasm of her orgasm, but refused to come himself.

Once her orgasm had stopped he picked up his pace again. He could tell he was close and he wanted her to come with him.

"Ohh…Draco." She panted out, digging her nails into his back.

Draco pushed into her two more times and then felt her walls clench around him and he let himself come too.

Once their breathing had returned to normal she unwrapped her legs, but kept her head on his chest.

"Wow."

"Interesting enough for you?" he joked, smirking down at her.

She rolled her eyes, but nodded.

"Most definitely."


	5. Chapter 5

**If you guys want you can go read my latest story Oops We Did It Again. It can stand alone as a oneshot, but goes along with What Happens in the Library Stays in the Library.**

**As for the confusion with the last chapter...don't you just love siblings? That wasn't supposed to be published. Ever. One of my reviewers requested that I do something like that, so when I asked my brother if he could post my last chapter... Anyway, I apologize again. Those of you who read Chapter Five before, just ignore everything that happened. Those of you who haven't, ignore what I'm saying now lol. Here's the _actual_ Chapter Five. Enjoy (:**

* * *

"Hermione they need you in room 333."

She took the clipboard from Julianna, the woman at the check-in desk, and headed back to attend to a woman who had apparently dislocated her shoulder.

Hermione's day had been extremely busy since the moment she set foot in St. Mungo's that morning. Every spare second she had was taken up by sick babies, broken bones, spells gone wrong—the list just went on and on.

Too bad for her, all the craziness of her day didn't do much to distract her from her thoughts.

Draco's parents hadn't brought up their engagement once, and she was beginning to think that maybe they were hoping it just wouldn't happen. She was well aware of how Draco's father felt about her, Narcissa on the other hand seemed to at least be able to tolerate her.

In addition to her soon to be in-laws obvious lack of interest or approval in her upcoming wedding, she and Draco were to announce their engagement at the school reunion that weekend.

Sure, her two best friends knew, Narcissa and Lucius knew, but that was it. Draco had wanted to keep it a surprise until they could let everyone know at once.

Draco knew that his friends, aka the entire Slytherin team (minus maybe Pansy) would be happy for them. He even went so far as to say that Gryffindor would be happy once they got used to the idea, but Hermione couldn't agree with him.

Gryffindor _hated_ Slytherin, and she doubted that five years had changed much of anything. All she wanted was to let Draco announce it and then get the hell out of there before anything bad happened.

It's not that she really cared what they would think, she just had a nagging feeling that something wasn't right.

She shoved the thought out of her head however when Draco showed up smiling with flowers, "Hello Love."

She smiled and gave him a light kiss on the cheek, "Hey, what are you doing here?" she asked, completely forgetting their lunch with Narcissa and Lucius today.

Draco gave her a look and she clapped a hand over her mouth. "Oh for Merlin's sake...how could I forget about that?"

Draco smiled and shook his head, "I can tell them you're really busy if you-"

"Don't be ridiculous. We cancelled on them once already." she ran a hand through her curly hair and scanned the area to see if her boss was there. "No, no give me ten minutes and I'll meet you down at the Leaky Cauldron."

He nodded and kissed her before making his way outside.

She set down the patients chart she'd been holding and walked over to Julianna. "Do you think you can handle it here for thirty minutes? I have to go meet Draco and his parents for lunch."

Julianna smiled, "Of course. Have fun. If anyone asks I'll tell them I let you take your lunch break early."

Hermione thanked the woman and headed to the Leaky Cauldron.

* * *

"Ah, Hermione. So glad you could make it." said Lucius as she sat down at the table next to Draco.

"Wouldn't miss it." she said taking a sip of the drink Draco had ordered for her.

"How's work? Hopefully it's not too busy that they'll miss you too much." said Narcissa, smiling at her.

She smiled back and said, "No...it's not too bad. Just a regular day I guess."

After they had ordered their food Draco noticed that Hermione kept checking her watch. "When's your lunch break over Love?"

"Oh...about ten minutes." she said glancing outside. Her job wasn't currently what she was worried about. Ron always came to the Leaky Cauldron on his lunch break at half past noon, and she was trying to avoid seeing him.

"Is there someone you're looking for?" asked Lucius.

She snapped her attention back to the table, "No, no of course not." she lied.

"So Hermione," started Lucius, leaning back in his chair, "Have you ever considered a different career?"

Hermione stopped herself from rolling her eyes, but she was getting rather tired of Lucius commenting on her chosen profession.

"No, I like my job." She said simply.

"Father, enough." said Draco, clearly annoyed.

"I'm just asking the girl a few question's is all." he said smiling.

"Well then stop."

"Boys, boys, let's not argue. I'm sure Hermione here needs to be getting back to work anyway. Isn't that right dear?"

Hermione could have kissed Narcissa she was so thankful, "Yes, I should be going. It was nice seeing you all again."

"I'll walk you out." said Draco, saying his goodbyes.

Hermione stepped outside and ran right into Ron. Bloody Hell this is exactly what she had been trying to avoid.

"Oh...Hermione...do you have a second to talk?"

"No, I really should be getting back to work Ron." she said stepping around him.

"Well then will you meet me here after work? I really feel like we need to talk."

She sighed, how long could she really stay mad at him? She looked to Draco and he nodded. "Alright. I'll see you after work."

* * *

Hermione's day was long and stressful and when it was time for her to meet up with Ron she was more than ready to just go home and take a nice relaxing bath.

She trudged back down to the Leaky Cauldron, to an already waiting Ron.

As soon as she sat down he began talking, "Look, I'm really sorry. There is no excuse for what I said to you before. I was just...just jealous of Draco."

Hermione shook her head, "Jealous of him? Why?"

He smiled sadly, "Because he has you."

"Ron we had our time together, and it just didn't work out." she said softly.

"I know, and that was my fault too. Hermione I never, never wanted to hurt you. Not with what I said, and not with what I did five years ago. And I know you forgave me and we're still friends, but I haven't forgiven myself yet. I gave up the greatest thing that ever happened to me, and I hurt you in the process."

"I forgave you because you're still my best friend. You and Harry have always been there for me. It's okay for you to forgive yourself now too, Ron. You have to. And as for Draco,"

He shook his head, "I'll apologize to him too. Don't expect us to be friends Mione, but we'll be civil." he said smiling.

"That's all I ask." she said laughing.

"So you really love him?" he asked after a moment of silence.

She nodded her head and smiled, "Yeah, I really do."

* * *

Hermione arrived home fifteen minutes before eleven. She and Ron had talked for _hours_ reliving their days at Hogwarts, their relationship, even some things during the war. They talked about George and how he'd be proud that Ron was running the store, and even about Harry and Ginny having a baby.

She quietly stripped off her clothes and ran herself a bath, careful as not to wake Draco.

She slid into the tub a few minutes later, and finally felt a bit more relaxed. She'd been running on empty the past few weeks and she really needed to unwind.

Draco had noticed when Hermione came home, but wasn't sure if she'd want to be bothered. He knew she'd had a hard day, but when she never emerged from the bathroom Draco had a feeling she'd fallen asleep.

He stood and sure enough, Hermione was asleep in the bathtub, her head laying back against the side of the tub, and one arm out.

He chuckled and knelt down beside her, shaking her gently. "Hermione,"

She slowly opened her eyes and groaned, "Guess I was more tired then I thought."

He chuckled and handed her her towel. "Did you and Ron make up?"

She suppressed a yawn and followed him back into their bedroom, "Yeah, we made up. He even said he's going to apologize to you." she said chuckling as she pulled on her pajamas.

He rolled his eyes, "I'm not the one who needed the apology."

"Be nice. It's not like he wants to be friends with you. All I ask is that the two of you remain civil." she said sliding into bed.

Draco did the same and turned so that her back was pressed against his chest and he had his arms wrapped around her.

"Are you working tomorrow?"

"No, they told me I have a new schedule. Why?"

"Because I figured we could go try wedding cakes."

"Oh that sounds lovely." she said snuggling back against him. A few minutes later Draco felt her breathing slow and he smiled.

"Goodnight Love."

He had a few things on his to-do list for tomorrow as well. With the reunion only a few days away he needed to tell his parents, and soon. He just needed to find the right time...


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm leaving for New York in two days so I won't be able to upload any more chapters after tomorrow until like Saturday, but if there's any opportunity for me to write, I definitely will. **

* * *

"I have a few things I need to take care of, but it shouldn't take me long. I'll be back at around noon." said Draco taking a sip from his glass.

"Alright, I might go visit Harry and Ginny while you're gone."

He nodded, but wasn't paying much attention. He was nervous about telling his father. Narcissa would no doubt be happy, but Lucius had gone to a lot of trouble to make sure Hermione felt uncomfortable.

"Are you alright?" she had moved behind him with her hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, just got lost in thought I guess." he chuckled and stood putting his cup in the sink on his way to the door.

"I'll see you soon Love."

Hermione nodded and headed upstairs to get dressed.

She hadn't seen Ginny in far too long, and she was excited that she was finally going to be able to sit and catch up with her.

* * *

A few minutes later Hermione apparated to Ginny and Harry's house.

"Ginny?"

"Oh my goodness, Hemione!" squealed Ginny, running up to her and giving her a hug.

"You look lovely Ginny." she said taking a seat and pouring them both a cup of tea.

"You do as well Hermione. How are things? Where's Draco?"

"Things are good. Work at the hospital is as busy as ever, but it keeps me entertained. Draco had to go run some errands, but he sends his best wishes for you and the new baby."

At that Ginny lit up and placed a hand over her tummy. There was nothing to see yet, and she was still as skinny as ever, but there was a certain glow about her now.

"Well do tell him I said thank you. Harry was supposed to be here too, but he went to go see Ron for a bit."

"Well that's fine. We need some girl time anyway." said Hermione, chuckling.

Ginny nodded, "That we do. Are you going to the reunion this weekend?"

Hermione suddenly felt guilty. Ginny didn't know that she and Draco were engaged. She'd made the boys promise not to tell anyone. But Ginny was her best friend too.

"Yes, Draco and I have a bit of news to announce to everyone." said Hermione, fidgiting a bit.

"Oh? What news?"

"Um...well...you see...we're engaged!" she blurted.

For a moment Ginny was silent, but then she screamed, "Oh my goodness, Hermione that's amazing! Why didn't you tell me?" she said laughing.

Hermione instantly felt at ease and blushed, "I didn't know how to tell you. I mean it was hard enough telling Ron and Harry, because Draco wanted to wait until we could announce it to everyone."

Ginny shook her head, "This is really gonna be a shock to some people."

"Tell me about it." said Hermione, stressing herself out even more.

"Hey," said Ginny, leaning forward and resting a hand ontop of Hermione's. "Everything will be alright. There's no reason to worry about it too much. Harry and Ron know and sure, they're probably not jumping for joy, but they still love you. Same goes for me."

"Thank you Ginny, but you guys aren't who i'm worried about. It's his parents. I mean mainly it's Lucius."

"Well Hermione, it's not that big of a surprise considering he doesn't really _like _anyone."

"Maybe you're right." she said looking at the clock Ginny had over the fireplace.

"I should probably get going soon. Draco and I are going to look at wedding cakes."

"Oh, have you thought about where you're going to have the wedding?"

"No," she said taking a sip of her tea, "I don't think either one of us cares too much. I'd like to have it on the beach, but I'm not even sure where we'd go to accomplish that."

"I'm sure Draco could figure out some way to make it work. He's accomplished more than that before." she said chuckling.

Hermione laughed too and they talked for another hour, completely oblivious to what was going on on the other side of town.

* * *

Draco was sitting with his parents in the foyer of their house, feeling like he was walking into a battle instead of telling his parents of his engagement to a certain witch who had stolen his heart.

"What brings you here Draco?" asked Narcissa pouring him and Lucius a glass of Fire Whiskey.

"Just thought I'd stop by."

He accepted the glass and looked over at his father who was studying him carefully.

"What's the real reason?"

"Lucius," scolded Narcissa, "If he says he just stopped by to say hello then that's what it is."

"I know my son." said Lucius, his gaze never leaving Draco's.

"I do have some news." he began slowly. "Mother, would you please sit down?"

Narcissa slowly set down her glass and took a seat by her husband.

"As you know, Hermione and I have been seeing each other for quite some time now." He said, attempting not to shy away from his father's piercing gaze.

"Yes, we know." said Narcissa, a slow smile slipping onto her face.

"Well, a few months ago I...well I proposed to her."

"Oh Draco that's lovely! I can't believe-"

"You did what?" Lucius was turning a nasty shade of red.

"I'm going to marry her father."

"What are you thinking? Do you know what that would to to the Malfoy line?"

"What does it matter? You already made it impossible for the Malfoy name to be anything more than a joke. I love her, and I'm going to spend the rest of my life with her."

His father stood up and crossed the small space between them to the front door, "You will leave my house."

"Lucius," gasped Narcissa.

"Be quiet. I do not wish to see his face in my house again."

Draco stood without a word and walked out the door, letting it slam shut behind him. At least it was done.

But now he had another problem. How was he going to explain to Hermione that his dad wanted nothing to do with either one of them?

He ran a hand through his hair and apparated home, hoping that an idea would drop out of the sky and land on his lap.

Wishful thinking.


	7. Chapter 7

**I just wanted to take a second and thank you guys for all the nice reviews you guys have been giving me, I really appreciate it! **

**Hope you enjoy this chapter! (:**

* * *

"Can I take you to lunch?"

Draco had showed up at St. Mungo's on Hermione's lunch break.

"Of course. Let me grab my purse." she waved goodbye to Julianna and then followed Draco down to Diagon Alley. Instead of going to the Leaky Cauldron like she thought, Draco turned down another street and apparated them to a Muggle street.

"Where are we going?"

"I thought I'd take you somewhere new." he said holding open the door to a small italian restaurant.

They were seated at a small table by the window and Hermione had the perfect view of a beach. "Where the hell are we Draco?"

"Hawaii." he said smiling sheepishly.

Hermione rolled her eyes and laughed, "Because we don't have any italian restaurants in London, right?"

He chuckled, "I figured it'd be nice to be somewhere different. Besides, I have something I need to talk to you about."

Hermione took a sip of her drink and looked at him questioningly. "Alright..."

Draco looked down at his hands, then back up at her. He didn't want to hurt Hermione, he didn't want to make her upset, but more than that he didn't want to keep lying to her.

"Well you know how I told you that I had told my parents about us?"

"Yes,"

"Well I didn't exactly tell you the truth."

"What do you mean?"

"I really wanted to tell them, but I was worried that-"

"You didn't tell them?" she asked, interrupting him.

"Not at the time no, but-"

"How could you lie to me? You said you were excited to be getting married." Hermione wasn't exactly upset, just extremely dissapointed.

"I am excited, Hermione. It's just not that simple. My father was completely wrong about you, but I knew he wasn't going to listen to me. I just didn't want to have to tell you any bad news. I know how much you wanted there approval." he explained.

She took a breath and looked out of the window attempting to figure out how to feel.

She wanted to be furious, but this was Draco she was talking about. It was impossible to stay mad at him, especially since he'd done it to protect her feelings.

"What'd they say?"

He seemed to relax a little, "My mother is excited for us."

"And Lucius?"

He ran a hand through his hair and let out a sigh. "He doesn't want anything to do with it."

Hermione nodded slowly, "I figured."

Draco reached out and placed his hand over hers. "I'm sorry that I lied to you Hermione, but you have to believe that I want to marry you. I love you."

Hermione was actually really proud of Draco. He had done what she probably would never be able to do, and that was to stand up to Lucius.

"I love you too. And like you said, we'll still get married and have lots of little Malfoy's."

He smiled and squeezed her hand once before letting it go. " Exactly."

* * *

Hermione was unusually quiet when she returned to work. It was still hard for her to grasp the fact that Draco had lied to her, but it had all worked out now, hadn't it?

She ran her hand through her hair and leaned against the main desk by Julianna.

"What's on your mind?"

Hermione smiled and shook her head, "Oh nothing."

"Come on Hermione," said Julianna raising an eye brow at her, "You've been working her for five years, I know you. What's bugging you?"

She sighed and closed her eyes. "Just a little trouble at home." she said vaguely.

"Well nothing's ever as bad as it seems." she said patting Hermione's hand. "And if it's something that doesn't affect the here and now, I wouldn't stress about it too much."

With that Julianna stood up and grabbed one of the patient files and headed into one of the patient waiting rooms.

Hermione worked throught the rest of the day in a bit of a daze.

"Hermione, what are you still doing here?"

She looked up and found Andrew, her boss.

"Oh..." she turned and looked at the clock and saw that she'd stayed an extra hour. "Guess the time just got away from me."

"Paperwork tends to do that sometimes." he said from the doorway.

"Yes, I guess so." she said gathering her things and passing him on her way out of the door. "Have a good night Mr. Malcov."

"Same to you Miss Granger."

Hermione walked down Diagon Alley, trying to clear her head. She didn't know whether or not she wanted to go home, or if she should just continue walking around aimlessly.

"Hermione?"

She turned around and found herself face to face with Narcissa Malfoy.

* * *

"Oh, hello." said Hermione.

"How are you?"

"I'm fine."

"Look, I'm sure you're upset with Draco for not telling us, but take it from me. Lucius is a difficult man who is stuck in the old ways."

Hermione didn't say anything just watched her with curious eyes.

"This may not mean much, especially coming from me, but I'm very happy that Draco has found you." said Narcissa raising a hand as if to touch her, but then deciding against it.

"Thank you." said Hermione, wiping a tear that managed to escape.

Narcissa smiled and stepped backwards towards the way she'd been headed, "Even if Lucius never comes around, which I'm sad to say is a very realistic outcome, you two will have my support."

Hermione didn't trust herself to speak, so she just nodded.

After Narciss had left Hermione apparated home.

"Love, is that you?" called Draco from the living room couch. She just saw the top of his head sticking out above the seat.

"Yes, sorry i'm late. I got caught up at work." she said sitting down next to him.

"No worries." he said quietly.

"I actually talked to your mother."

His eyes went wide and he looked at her, "What did she say?"

"That she was happy you'd found me."

He smiled and pulled her close to him on the couch. "Are you tired?"

"No, just a little sore."

"How about I give you a massage?"

Hermione couldn't help but laugh, "You're offering to give me a massage? What's the occasion?"

"Ha-ha-ha you're oh-so funny." he said chuckling. "No reason really, just think you deserve it."

"Well who am I to turn down a massage." she said following him as he led her upstairs.

He pulled her close to himself and kissed her, "Get undressed." he said softly.

She smiled and raised an eyebrow,  
"What do you have planned Mr. Malfoy?"

He chuckled, "Just do it Granger."

She obliged and slowly slid out of all her clothes, then layed down on the bed on her stomach.

Draco walked over to the nightstand and picked up a bottle of oil, then walked over to Hermione. He opened the bottle and slowly drizzled the oil over her back.

"Just relax." he said sliding his hands over her back.

"Mmm,"

He chuckled and began massaging her shoulders and worked his way down her arms. When he'd worked his way down her legs he slowed and massaged the inside of her thighs, just barely letting his fingertips brush her core.

"Draco,"

"Shh, just relax." he said.

He moved his hands back up her back and then had her roll over. He grabbed the oil and repeated what he'd done, massaging her arms, down her stomach and legs, and only then did he begin massaging her breasts.

Hermione let out a soft moan and bit her lip.

Draco on the other hand was having a hard time keeping his pants on. The sight of Hermione in front of him was almost too much. Add in the fact that she was naked and moaning, it was like an erotic torture.

"Hermione,"

She opened her eyes and smiled, knowing what he meant. She sat up and pushed him backwards so that he was the one on his back.

She undid his pants and slid them off along with his boxers. He bit back a moan when she brought her lips to him and started bobbing her head up and down.

A few minutes later he slid his hand into her hair and pulled her up, kissing her.

"Draco," she said pulling away from the kiss. He began biting and sucking on her neck while he slid one long finger into her.

He flipped them over so that he was on top and he smiled down at her. "So much for that massage."

"Forget the massage." she said laughing.

He didn't need to be told twice.


	8. Chapter 8

**Enjoy and keep reviewing (:**

* * *

"Ginny I'm freaking out."

Hermione and Ginny had decided to go shopping for their dresses that they were going to wear to the reunion.

"What, why? You've looked good in everything."

"Because, the reunion is tomorrow and that means we're a day away from letting everyone know about me and Draco." she said, stepping out of the dressing room in a form fitting red floor length dress with a deep v-neck and a slit up the side.

"Oh my goodness...Hermione...that's the one."

Hermione turned to look into the mirror and was pleasantly surprised at what she saw. She knew Draco would love the dress, even if it was red.

"Well...at least that's one less thing to worry about."

After she'd changed back into her regular clothes they decided to go to a small cafe to talk.

"What exactly is it that you're so worried about?" asked Ginny.

Hermione sighed and took a sip from her coffee, grimicing slightly at how bitter the coffee was. "I just...I don't know, what if more people react how Lucius reacted?"

"Then they're dumb arseholes who don't know anything about you and Draco's relationship. No one's opinion of your engagement matters except your own."

"I'm trying to think like that Ginny, I really am, but it's different when it's actually happening to you."

"Honey, you knew this wasn't going to be easy. You knew that even being in any sort of relationship with Draco would be difficult, but you've made it this far. Don't let one person ruin what's supposed to be an amazing occasion."

Hermione nodded, "You're right, but that's enough about me, are you and Harry going to announce the pregnancy?"

"We might just let the two of you have the spot light." she said chuckling.

* * *

"Draco you have to understand you're your father is a difficult man, but he still loves you."

"If he can't accept Hermione what makes you think that I even want him in my life? She's going to be my wife mother. We're going to have a family together. He needs to realize that."

"He's still your father, even if he's stuck in the old times. It's hard to completely change your idea of something if you've thought that way your entire life. You thought like him at one point too Draco, don't forget that." Said Narcissa.

She had invited Draco over while Lucius was away at work so that she could have a one on one talk with him.

"Yes, I did. But Hermione changed all that for me. In all honesty I probably would have died in the war if it hadn't been for her."

"And I love that she does that for you, but your father doesn't think so."

"He should. If it hadn't been for Hermione we would never have been able to change sides during the war. It was her vote in the council that convinced them not to send us straight to Azkaban or worse."

"Maybe you should tell him that." She said softly.

Draco ran a hand through his hair and blew out a frustrated breath. "I should go before he gets home."

Narcissa smiled sadly, but nodded in agreement, "I will see you soon."

He nodded and apparated home, extremely irritated with his father's lack of understanding.

He loved Hermione, why wasn't that enough?

He walked past the living room, but turned back when he heard two voices, one belonging to Hermione and the other belonging to his father.

"Mr. Malfoy I love your son and he-"

"Do not," he said his steely gray eyes piercing hers, "Insinuate that my son has any feelings for you that go beyond pity."

Hermione's mouth dropped open but she recovered quickly and stood from the couch, "If you're going to insult me, I'd like you to leave my house."

"Excuse me?" asked Lucius. He'd never had anyone tell him what to do before.

"You heard her." said Draco stepping into the living room as well.

"Besides, since I'm not welcome in your house what makes you think you're welcome in mine?"

"I'm still your father and you will speak to me with respect."

"As soon as you give that same respect to Hermione." He said evenly.

"Respect a Mudblood? I'd sooner rot in Azkaban."

Draco stepped forward as if to actually engage in a fight with Lucius, but Hermione stepped between them. She was completely amazed that Draco was standing up to his father for her. To hell with Lucius and to hell with anyone else who had a problem with their relationship.

"I don't need your respect Lucius, I don't need your approval, and I certainly don't need your blessing on this wedding. If you want to be a part of our life then that's great, but if not that's fine too. I'm done trying to please you."

With that she left the room and headed upstairs to the balcony, leaving the two men standing in the living room.

A few minutes later Draco came behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"I love you."

She smiled and leaned back into him, "I love you too."

"What did he say?"

"Well, let's just say we shouldn't be expecting him at the wedding." He said chuckling into her hair.

She sighed, but it was okay with her. She would rather him not be there than if he were and made it miserable for everyone.

"Does that mean your mum's not coming either?"

That thought did make her a bit sad because Narcissa had slowly grown on her.

"I'm sure if she has any chance, she'll come." He said kissing her neck.

"Did you and Ginny find dresses for tomorrow?"

She laughed, "Yes, and I do believe you're going to love it."

"I love you in everything." He said spinning her around to look at him.

"You're too sweet," she said smiling.

He smiled and kissed her nose.

Hermione rested her head against his chest and listened to his heartbeat.

After a while Draco sighed, "How'd I get so lucky?"

It wasn't really a question that needed an answer, and Hermione knew that, so she just hugged him tighter.

* * *

The next morning Hermione woke up a ball of nerves. It was mostly just excitement for letting everyone know, since she knew where she stood with Lucius it wasn't stressful anymore.

Although planning a wedding was going to be stressful enough.

She rolled out of bed, leaving a sleeping Draco behind, and took a shower, taking extra care to make sure her hair looked presentable.

"Hermione, I'm sure you look great, I need to take a shower." Said Draco banging on the bathroom door.

She flung the door open, but didn't leave, "Then take one."

He rolled his eyes but turned the shower on and waited for the water to heat up. "Do I get to see you in your dress?"

"When we leave, yes."

"Just let me see what it looks like." He said coming to stand behind her.

"Nope, you can wait. I want you to be totally surprised. So take a shower, we don't want to be late."

He stuck his tongue out at her, but did as she asked.

It was going to be a long day.

* * *

She walked out of the bathroom and sat down at her vanity. She had a few pictures of her parents, one in particular caught her attention. It was one of the three of them together on a beach. Her mother was smiling down at her while her father smiled over at her mother, and she looked directly at the camera.

She sighed and tried to keep herself from tearing up. She'd always imagined that her parents would be there to see her get married, but the war had ended that dream for her. They had both been killed in an attack on Muggles.

Despite her efforts a tear slid down her cheek and landed on the glass frame of the picture.

"Oh Hermione,"

Draco came over and pulled her into a hug. She didn't know where exactly this particular display of emotions came from, but she desperately wanted it to stop.

"You know, I think your parents would be really proud of you."

"You think so?" she asked looking up at him.

"I do." He said placing a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"I just don't know how I'm supposed to do all this wedding stuff without my mom."

He tilted her chin up so that she was looking at him. "Well it may not be much, but you've got me."

At that she smiled, "You know, now that I think about it, I think that'll do just fine."

He laughed with her and before she knew it she had completely put the fact of her parents not being there out of her head.

Narcissa thought that Draco was lucky to have found Hermione, but in reality it was Hermione who was lucky to have found Draco.

Funny how things worked out like that.

* * *

Draco was sitting downstairs with Harry and Ron while Ginny and Hermione were upstairs finishing getting dressed.

"Merlin, how long does it take them? We're going to be late you know?" complained Ron.

Draco and Harry both laughed. "If you wanted to be there on time you shouldn't have came with us." Said Draco, speaking what he and Harry both had on their minds.

Ron ran a hand through his hair and shook his head, "This is why I don't have a girlfriend."

Harry snorted, "That is not why you don't have a girlfriend."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Ron, looking slightly insulted.

"Nothing, nothing." Said Harry.

Just then Ginny and Hermione walked down the stairs and all the conversation stopped.

"Ginny, you look lovely." Said Harry taking her hand.

But Draco wasn't paying attention to Ginny, or anybody in the room for that matter, his eyes were completely glued to Hermione.

She looked absolutely amazing. Her hair fell in loose curls down her back, and her figure looked spectacular in her red dress.

"Well what do you think?" asked Hermione quietly, intending the question only for Draco.

He stepped toward her and said, "You look breath taking."

He pulled her in and kissed her cheek, whispering in her ear so no one else heard, "But it'll look even better when it's on the floor when we get home."

He winked and turned back to the rest of them, "Shall we go?"

Hermione was already ready to just go upstairs and fuck the hell out of Draco, especially since he looked _so _damn good in his black suit with his emerald green Slytherin tie, but they had more important things to handle first.

* * *

When they arrived at Hogwarts it was like nothing had changed. Everyone still milled around with their team, a few people dared to venture over to other teams, but the majority stayed within their group.

"I'm going to go say hi to some people, I'll catch up with you later okay?" said Hermione, already being pulled away by Ginny.

Draco didn't even have time to reply before Crabbe and Goyle were at his side.

"Hey Malfoy, how've you been?"

"Yeah, you still go out with that Granger girl?"

Draco shook his head wondering how he'd been friends with them for so many years.

"Yes, I do. How have you boys been?"

They talked for a while over pointless nothings, but the whole time Draco's eyes were glued to Hermione. She was talking and laughing with a group of Gryffindors.

After a while he excused himself and walked over to her. "Having fun?"

She turned and put her arms around his waist. "Yes, it's nice to see everyone again."

He smiled, "I'm glad."

All of a sudden there was a bell that everyone was all too familiar with, dinner bell.

Everyone slowly made their way to the dining hall and found their usual spots from where they used to sit.

"Hermione, over here!" called Ron. He was seated where he always had been, with Ginny, Harry, and Longbottom with him.

Just then from another table they heard Pansy, "Draco over here, we saved you a seat."

Hermione had to physical stop herself from cringing as she eyed Pansy in what she assumed was supposed to be a dress, but was missing around four inches of fabric.

Draco looked down at her, eyebrow raised, "How about you go sit at your table and I'll sit at mine. That way it's easier." She said, glancing back at Pansy.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, yeah, I mean I've already made you befriend some Gryffindors, I'd hate for you to have to sit with them too." she said gently pushing him in the direction of Pansy and she stepped over and sat by Ron.

He gave her a side hug and a kiss on the cheek, which for some reason rubbed Draco the wrong way. He didn't really like anyone touching Hermione like that.

He sighed and took his old seat next to Pansy and even though she kept talking his eyes were watching her. she looked so at ease. It was almost like going back in time.

"Draco are you listening?"

"Not really," he said, finally looking at her.

"Well," she said placing her hand over his just as Hermione turned and looked at him.

"I was saying how you should come over for drinks soon. We haven't talked in so long."

Hermione raised an eyebrow, but was more amused than anything because of the clear discomfort on Draco's face.

She chuckled and decided he'd suffered enough.

"I'll be right back Ginny."

With that she headed over to Pansy and Draco.

"Draco, why don't you come over here and sit with me so we can tell everyone our big news."

The relief on his face was clear and he almost flew up from the table.

"Nice seeing you again Pansy." Said Hermione, leading Draco away from the table.

They both sat down and he held her hand in his. "Are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."


	9. Chapter 9

**Enjoy, just FYI there is a juicy Lemon coming up in the next chapter, so stick around!**

* * *

Hermione took a deep breath and steadied herself as she stood with Draco. He noticed her unease and decided to take charge of the situation.

"If I could have everyone's attention for a moment?" asked Draco amplifying his voice so everyone in the crowded dining hall could hear him.

He waited for a few moments until everyone had quieted down before he began speaking.

"Hermione and I have a bit of news we'd like to share with—"

"This is ridiculous!" boomed Lucius, his voice loud enough in his anger that he had no need for the amplification spell. Everyone heard him just fine.

"Father," said Draco, his tone just barely disguising his rage simmering under his cool demeanor.

"No, this is absolute nonsense. The fact that you think—"

"That is enough!" yelled Hermione, startling everyone, most of all Lucius.

"I have absolutely had it with you. I tried to be nice. I tried to make you like me, I tried everything I could possibly think of to get you to see that your _barbaric, idiotic, and close-minded _ideas of me were completely and totally wrong. But you know what Lucius?" she said, her voice stronger than she expected it to be, "To hell with you."

With that she turned to the astonished crowd and whispered a small spell to place the beautiful green emerald engagement ring on her finger were it belonged, "Draco and I are engaged."

For a moment there was complete silence, until somebody from Slytherin called out chuckling, "Well it's about bloody time."

* * *

With that the entire dining hall burst into cheers and shouted congratulations to the beaming couple.

Well everyone aside from Lucius and Pansy.

After the throng of people that had surrounded them dispersed slightly to take to the dance floor, Draco turned to Hermione and pulled her close.

"You were amazing." He whispered against her ear.

"I'm not sure amazing is the word I would use." Said Pansy appearing at Draco's side out of nowhere.

He sighed into Hermione's neck before standing up tall again and casting a bored glance at Pansy.

"Now stop being silly with all this engagement mess and join me and the rest of your friends."

Hermione was two seconds away from tearing into Pansy, and Draco noticed it. He couldn't help but smile at his little Gryffindor Lioness.

"Pansy, as much as it pains me to actually admit this," he paused smiling at Hermione who visibly relaxed as his eyes roved over her body briefly before turning back to Pansy, "But I'd much rather spend my time with Hermione and her Gryf—friends. With her friends."

Pansy looked as if she were going to try to argue, but Hermione stepped forward, not close enough to seem menacing for people who watched the little scene, but close enough for Pansy know exactly where she stood.

"If you so much as _think _about Draco I will make sure it's the last thought that ever crosses your pretty little blonde head." she punctuated the threat with a smile and a glint in her eye that not even Draco would have dared challenge.

"Draco," said Pansy aghast, "Are you going to let her speak to me like this?"

Draco laughed and wrapped an arm around Hermione's waist, "Rather her then me."

* * *

Draco was in the process of whisking Hermione away to retreat home early, when Lucius stepped in front of them.

"Hermione, could you excuse us. I'd like to have a private word with my son."

"Whatever you have to say to me you can say in front of her. Merlin knows you were never shy in voicing your opinion before now." Said Draco, turning his body as if to protect Hermione from whatever venom would spew from his father's mouth.

"You requested that I not be rude in front of your…fiancé." He spit the last word out as if it tasted foul.

"Then don't."

"Then tell her to leave."

At that Draco laughed, "You do not tell Hermione Granger anything. She either does or does not do something, both of which she decides on her own terms."

Lucius' eyes blazed and he took a step towards Draco as if to strike him, but he smacked his hand away.

"Enough, Hermione was right. This game has grown old. You can either decide that my loving her is enough, or you can choose to stay stuck in your ways. But as of right now I do not care either way. I'm going to go home and _ravish _my fiancé." Draco added emphasis on the word just to get a rise out of his father, but Hermione knew damn well that he would do just that when they got home.

Lucius sputtered for a comeback and Pansy looked about ready to claw Hermione's eyes out, the only thing restraining her had been the look in the Lionesses eyes that she had seen all to often reflected in the silver pools of Draco's eyes.

Without giving his father, or anyone at the ball really, a second thought, he apparated them home.

Not a second after they were home Draco had Hermione up against the wall and was kissing her passionately.

"Draco," panted Hermione, out of breath from his kiss.

Draco smiled seductively down at her and lowered his head so his breath grazed her ear, "I've been imagining all the things I want to do with you."

Hermione bit her lip to keep from moaning as she felt his already hard erection pressing against her.

"What kinds of things?" she asked, trying to control her bodies reactions to him.

"Making you scream my name, over and over and over again." He punctuated every word with a soft kiss on her neck.

He began sucking on her pulse point and she couldn't stop the soft moan that escaped her lips.

Draco smirked, clearly satisfied that he could get such a reaction out of her from doing next to nothing.

Hermione attempted to glare up at him, but quickly lost track of the thought as he exposed her full breasts to his touch.

She began unbuttoning his shirt, (Merlin only knows where his jacket went), but Draco stopped her, pinning her hands above her head.

"Let me take care of you Love." He said softly.

"You're always taking care of me." she said frowning at the fact that she wasn't able to see more of his amazing body.

"And I always will." He said kissing her less urgently than he had before.

"For Merlin's sake Draco if you don't take off that damned shirt I'm going to—"

"Going to do what love?" he asked, mischief in his eyes.

"I'm going to hex off all of your clothes and fully enjoy what everyone now knows is mine." She said, that familiar spark back in her eyes that not even Lucius could take away from her.

Hermione was his Gryffindor Princess and he'd be damned if anybody, his father included, tried to come between Hermione and him.

He simply wouldn't allow it. Not ever.


	10. Chapter 10

Draco was thoroughly enjoying himself, but Hermione felt like there wasn't much more of Draco's 'imagination' that she could take.

He had already made her come three times and they hadn't even had sex yet. The bastard.

He was currently lying on the bed, his head between Hermione's legs, and a twinkle in his eye as he watched her try to fight for any tiny bit of control she could gain over her body.

It just wasn't bloody working.

He licked, sucked, and fucked her with his mouth, constantly changing his pace and his actions so she never knew what to expect or when to expect it.

"Draco—oh Merlin," she grabbed onto the bed sheets and came a fourth time. Draco just continued what he was doing until her orgasm stopped.

He moved his head and smirked at her, slowly kissing his way up her body to her lips. She moaned again when she tasted herself on his tongue.

"Draco please," she said as he turned his attention to her breasts, taking first one and then the other nipple into his mouth.

He didn't know how the bloody hell he'd managed to stop himself from coming after the first two times, but he was determined to show Hermione exactly how creative his imagination was.

"Please what, Love?" he asked, pausing what he was doing to smile at her.

Hermione was frustrated and turned on all at the same time and it was completely infuriating. Add in the fact that the only thing she'd gotten him to take off was his shirt. She knew damn well that his pants had to be killing him.

And they were, Draco had never been this hard in his entire life, but his own bloody pride was the only thing keeping him from burying himself deep inside her this very second.

"You're such an—"

He interrupted her by inserting one long finger into her. She let out a long moan and bit on her lip in an attempt to keep her hips from moving in time with his hand.

Her breathing sped up and she couldn't stop herself from grinding back against Draco's hand.

Meanwhile Draco was clenching his teeth together, refusing to let himself come in his pants.

He felt it as her walls clenched around his finger and coated his fingers in her sweet juices.

He brought his index and middle fingers to his mouth and sucked them clean. Hermione thought she'd come again just from that sight alone. Damn him for being so bloody handsome.

"Baby, please?"

Draco smiled and stood up, finally freeing himself from his pants and underwear.

Hermione licked her lips and smiled at him, causing his 'little buddy' to twitch towards her.

"No," he said, knowing her intentions. It was going to be hard enough not to come inside her. If she put that pretty little mouth of hers on him he'd be a goner.

She pouted, "Why not?"

He got back onto the bed and climbed on top of her, lowering his head to whisper in her ear, "Because I have a better place to come and it's not in your mouth, no matter how sweet it is." He said winking at her.

She wrapped her legs around his waist as he pushed into her slowly. They both moaned at the feeling.

After a second of just enjoying the feeling of being inside her Draco began moving. He set a slow and steady pace, pulling all the way out and then slowly entering her again. He knew it would drive her crazy.

"For the love of Merlin, Draco move faster."

"All in good time, Love." He said capturing her lips in a passionate kiss, still managing to maintain the same slow deep thrusts.

He could tell Hermione was getting close, and so was he for that matter. All of a sudden he began moving in and out of her faster, and he brought his thumb to her clit and rubbed in a circular motion.

"Hermione, look at me." he said softly.

She opened her eyes and looked up at him, trying to control her moans.

"You never were a loud one." He said chuckling a little, or as much as the current situation would allow.

He increased the pressure on her clit, desperate to make her come with him this time.

She dragged her nails down his back, leaving yet another set of red scratch marks as she came.

Draco pumped into her two more times and then released his seed into her, letting out a deep moan as he did.

He rolled them both over so that she had her head on his chest and his arm was around her waist.

"Bloody hell," murmured Hermione.

He chuckled and pressed a kiss to her slightly damp forehead. "Did you enjoy yourself, Love?" he whispered, trailing his fingertips over her back.

"Do you even need to ask?" she said laughing. "I think you must have beaten the record for how many times a girl can come in one go."

He smiled, "Anything for my girl."

"Well," she said trailing a hand down his chest and to his already hardening member, "How about a shower?"

His mind flashed back to the last time they'd taken a shower together, images of her against the wall, all wet and hot—

He jumped up and pulled Hermione into the bathroom.

Neither one of them got much sleep that night.

* * *

"She's fine, she's just sleeping."

Hermione woke up to what sounded like muffled arguing outside her bedroom door.

She tried to clear the sleep from her brain and listened more closely to the two people outside.

"I heard about what happened. I have a right to make sure she's okay."

"And I'm sure she'll appreciate it, when she wakes up."

It was Ron. What was he doing here?

"It's after noon, there's no way Hermione would stay in bed that long. Something's probably wrong."

"The only thing 'wrong' is that she's tired." Said Draco calmly.

"From what? The two of you left the party not long after ten."

Hermione could literally feel the pause as Draco decided whether or not he was going to tell Ron exactly why she was so tired.

"She didn't sleep much."

Ron groaned, "That's not like Hermione at all. I know my best friend and she—"

"Bloody hell man," said Draco exasperatedly, "She's tired because we fucked all night long. Now shut up and go wait downstairs for her to wake up."

Hermione flopped back onto the mattress and groaned. Great. Just what she needed.

Draco on the other hand was pleased that he finally got Weasley away from the damn door.

He opened the door and poked his head in, seeing Hermione slide into one of his shirts and a pair of shorts.

He couldn't get over how good she looked. He could see her face for the next million years and not get used to her beauty.

"You're awake."

She turned around and walked over to him, placing a light kiss on his lips. "I heard you and Ron in front of the door."

"Damn, I was trying to keep him downstairs. I knew you were tired."

"It's no problem. Why's he here though?"

"Says he heard about what happened with my father. Wants to make sure you're okay."

She sighed, Ron had always been protective of her.

"Well I'll go assure him that I'm fine."

Draco nodded, "I'm gonna take a shower."

She blushed, knowing they hadn't really done much 'getting clean'.

He winked at her and shut the bathroom door. Hermione walked down the steps and into the living room where Ron was sitting on the couch.

She sat across from him on the small sofa, "What brings you here?"

"Hermione," he said smiling at her, "I heard about Lucius, that bastard. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I'm fine Ron," she said smiling. "You know I don't bruise that easily."

He nodded, "Yeah, I just…just wanted to be sure."

"Well thank you. It was sweet of you." She said standing to give him a hug.

He headed for the door but then paused and turned back to her. "You know I love you right?"

"Of course, you know I love you too."

"No, that's not what I—"

"It had better have been what you meant Weasley, because this is my fiancé you're talking to." said Draco, appearing behind Hermione.

"I—I didn't mean—I mean I did but I didn't—"

"Ron, I love Draco, I'm going to marry him, and you bringing up all these past feelings now isn't going to change that. I'm sorry." Said Hermione softly.

Ron opened his mouth as if to say something, but then thought better of it. "I understand."

With a pop he was gone.

Hermione sighed and ran a hand through her hair. Of all things for Ron to say, why on earth would he tell her he loved her.

"I need a drink." She said grabbing Draco's Fire Whiskey out of the cupboard and taking a glass out of the cabinet.

Draco reached over her head, grabbed a glass and took the bottle away from her, pouring himself a glass and then handing it back to her.

"What?" he asked as she stared at him, "You think you're the only one who needs a drink?"

She laughed and clinked her glass against his. "Cheers."

"Cheers." He replied, downing his glass in one swig and reaching for the bottle again.

"Drinking before breakfast Mr. Malfoy." Scolded Hermione as she took the bottle from him and refilled her own glass.

"This coming from the girl who drank over half a bottle of wine by herself in a matter of thirty minutes." He said laughing.

She rolled her eyes, "I blame Ron. This is the second time I've started drinking from something he's said."

Draco's attitude dimmed noticeably at the mention of Ron.

"Listen, don't worry about him. He just sees that now he's really lost me. I'm sure he'll get over it soon enough."

"I don't know about that." Said Draco staring into his glass.

"What makes you say that?"

"Because I know that I could never get over you if you left me." he said quietly.

"Draco," she said placing her hands on either side of his face, "I love you with all of my heart and I am never, ever, _ever _letting you go. You are most definitely stuck with me."

"And you are stuck with me, Love." He said pulling her in for a kiss.

"I wouldn't have it any other way."


	11. Chapter 11

**I just wanted to take the time to thank everybody for reading and reviewing (: I've gotten some reviews and messages about Ron in specific asking me to just get rid of him because he's annoying lol, but i've got bigger plans for him (: **

**As far as the 'beach story' (you'll get it when you read this chapter) i was thinking about writing a little oneshot for that just a thought (;**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Where have you guys decided to have the wedding?" asked Narcissa eyeing Draco and Hermione across their kitchen counter.

She had dropped by to offer her hand with the wedding planning, saying that Draco would be of no real help since he was a man, and Hermione would need a woman to help her make decisions that her mother most likely would have taken care of.

"We haven't." said Draco taking a drink of Hermione's coffee and quickly regretting it.

"What? How can you not have picked a place yet? You do realize you have to make reservations, get tables, get catering that can be there-"

"I'm sure it'll be fine." Draco assured his mother with a sigh.

"Where would you like to have the wedding Hermione?" she asked, ignoring her son altogether.

"Well I always loved the beach." she said shrugging.

Draco smiled over at her, sharing a knowing look. He remembered only one time he'd gone to a beach, and it was most likely because it was by far the best.

Let's just say they'd gotten well aquainted with each other in more ways than one.

"A beach? Well that's not very practical or traditional. Wouldn't you much rather have it in a nice church? You know we have connections at some very lovely places. I could-"

"If Hermione says she wants to have the wedding on the beach, then that's what we're going to do." Draco wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead.

Narcissa looked as if she'd object, but then she started nodding, "This might actually be a really wonderful idea. Nobody expects the two of you to be traditional anyway."

Hermione didn't know if that was supposed to be a good thing or not, but at that moment she decided to assume that it was.

"We could have it in Hawaii!" exclaimed Narcissa, clapping her hands together. If Hermione hadn't known better she would have thought she was much younger than what she was.

"That's actually not a bad idea."

Hermione nodded in agreement. She'd never been to Hawaii, but Draco had and she'd always wanted to go.

"Well then it's decided." she said, pulling a cell phone out of her purse. "I'm going to make some calls, set things up. Oh and Hermione?"

Narcissa paused at the door, phone halfway to her ear, and said, "I know I'm not the ideal choice for you, but I'll do my best."

Before Hermione had a chance to respond Narcissa turned her attention to the phone call. With a pop she had apparated to who knows where.

Hermione sighed, more of relief than anything else.

Draco interperted her sigh incorrectly though, "I know my mother can be a little overbearing sometimes, but she means well."

"Oh, no, I'm actually kind of thankful to have someone who wants to do this stuff. I'm pretty much usless when it comes to this wedding planning business."

Draco laced his hands through her hair and pulled her close so that their foreheads touched. "Well since she's got a handle on everything, maybe we could spend some time doing other things."

Hermione's eyes darkened with desire at the comment. "What did you have in mind?"

He smiled and just barely grazed his lips across hers. "I had a few things in mind actually."

Hermione's heartbeat picked up just like it always did when he got like this with her. It was impossible to interpret what exactly the things were that he had in mind, but if the molten silver of his eyes was of any indication, she was definitely in for some excitement.

Draco slid his hands down to her waist and lifted her onto the counter, stepping between her legs. She wrapped her arms around his neck loosely and leaned her forehead against his again.

"You're so beautiful Love." he whispered kissing her neck.

He kept one hand on her waist but moved the other down her thigh, just barely moving her skirt up.

"I thought you had to be at work today?" she asked, regretting it the moment she'd said it. There was no way, even if he did have to work, that she was letting him leave.

"I'm the boss, I don't exactly have to call in." he said, flashing her one of his best Slytherin smiles.

"Then why are we still talking?" she asked, lacing her hands through his hair and pulling his lips toward hers.

He chuckled against her mouth and lightly trailed the fingertips of his hand up and down her arm, enjoying the goosebumps he saw show up there.

She trailed her hands down his chest to the waistband of his jeans. He groaned, crushing her mouth against his.

Just then Draco's phone rang. "I'll ignore it." he said sensing her change in mood.

"No, it might be important. Nobody ever really calls your cellphone."

He pulled the phone out of his pocket and answered, "Hello,"

"Draco, dear, I was hoping you'd pick up. We didn't really get to talk at the reunion."

When Hermione heard it was Pansy she attempted to slip off the counter and give Draco some privacy, but he stepped back in between her legs and placing his free hand on her hip, his eyes holding hers.

"We don't have anything to talk about Pansy." said Draco evenly.

"Well of course we do. Just meet up with me for dinner. I really want to talk to you. It's important."

Hermione was irritated beyond belief at the fact the Pansy had the nerve to call and flirt with Draco like he didn't make it impossibly clear that he wasn't interested in her.

"Pansy-"

"What if I told you it was about business?"

"Depends on whether you're lying or not." he stated evenly, keeping an eye on Hermione's reactions, but not really learning much. She had basically lost any kind of facial expression as she stared out of the window.

"It is a business related matter." she said sweetly.

"Fine,"

Before Draco could finish Hermione pushed him back and walked out of the kitchen. It wasn't that she didn't trust Draco, it was the fact that at some point he had seen something in Pansy that he found worthwhile enough to date her damn near all through out their time at Hogwarts.

She sighed and poured herself a glass of wine and went to the balcony to take a breather. All she really wanted was to talk to her mom, but that wasn't an option. Hell, Ron and Harry weren't an option either because Harry had enough on his plate with Ginny and the baby coming, and Ron would just try to either convince her against trusting Draco, or he'd just tell her what she wanted to hear. Either way it wasn't what she needed.

She was so lost in thought that she didn't notice Draco walk onto the balcony behind her.

"If you don't want me to go, you know I won't Love."

Hermione looked up and saw him leaning against the doorframe, his arms crossed over his chest.

"I don't control what you do Draco. If you want to go have dinner with Pansy then go. If it actually is about busineess, which no offense I think is is a bloody lie, her family has money and that always makes for good business."

"Hermione," he stepped forward and knelt in front of her, tangling his hands in her hair and pulling her face closer to his. "You can come with me if you-"

"Oh no. No way am I spending any free time with Pansy. If you want to go hang out with her be my guest, but don't expect me to tag along."

Draco sighed and gently pressed his lips to hers, "I have a feeling you're gonna be mad if I do go."

"I already told you to go." she said tiredly.

"I'd feel better if you went Love, just this once." As if he heard that his statement made it seem like he'd be hanging out with Pansy more often he quickly corrected himself. "I just don't want to give her a reason to try anything. You know how Pansy is."

She couldn't say no to him. Damn it all to hell. "Alright, does she know I'm coming?"

"No," he said, trying to supress a smile.

Hermione groaned, "Draco,"

"It'll be good to catch her off guard. Besides," he said kissing her with controlled passion. "Any excuse to see you in one of those dresses."

At that she laughed, "Why? All you ever talk about is taking them off anyway."

"Exactly. Gives me something to look forward to all dinner...and gives me time to figure out how good my imagination really is."

That thought brought back the memories of the night before after the reunion, and she was instantly that much more willing to get this whole Pansy business over with.

"Well let's hope it's really, _really _good."

* * *

**I had _such_ a writers block with this chapter, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out in the end. Phew!**


	12. Chapter 12

Hermione didn't know what to expect when she stepped into the old Italian restaurant with Draco, but it was clear that Pansy wasn't expecting her to be there.

Pansy had dressed in a short emerald green skin tight dress that left very, _very_ little to the imagination, black heels, and her hair was swept up into a loose bun, exposing an almost indecent amount of clevage.

"Draco," she said standing when they approached the table. "I didn't know she was coming." It wasn't exactly contempt in her voice, but it definitely wasn't pleasant.

"Why wouldn't she?" he asked pulling out Hermione's seat before sitting himself.

"Well I told you it was a business meeting." she said tensely.

"And what exactly would that business be?" asked Hermione, shooting Draco a look that screamed I-told-you-so.

"Like I'm going to discuss it with you here."

"Like he won't just tell me when you leave." Hermione snapped back.

Draco smirked at his little lioness. He hadn't expected her to be nice, but he was a little surprised that they'd gone at each others throats so soon.

"Honestly Pansy, what's this about?" asked Draco.

"Well maybe I'd tell you about it if Hermione took a walk."

Draco was about to tell Pansy exactly where she could shove that idea when Hermione stood up, "I'm going to the bar."

Before Draco had a chance to object she was at the bar with a drink in her hand talking to the bartender.

"You have five minutes." he said, shifting his attention to Pansy.

She smiled and leaned forward so that her cleavage was on full display for him, "Well I have a proposition for you."

Instead of responding he just raised an eyebrow.

"My family has wealth and a good name, and if we were to-"

"I suggest you don't even finish the thought Pansy."

"Just hear me out!" she pleaded, placing her hand on his. "You remember what we had at Hogwarts, we were the perfect power couple. We could be that again! I mean your dad's all for it! Besides what can she offer you that I can't?"

He moved his hand away from hers and said, "I don't think you have time to hear the extent of the list."

"We may not have had the best relationship as far as communication," she said sliding next to him so that her knee was touching his, "But we were perfectly matched, in wealth and in class. Plus the sex was great."

At that point Hermione had been having an amusing conversation with the bartender, but she chose to look over at Pansy and Draco out of mere curiosity, and what she saw almost made her stop breathing.

Pansy leaned forward and crashed her lips against Draco's. His reaction was almost instantaneous. He pushed her back, but before he had the chance to say anything Hermione was pulling Pansy out of the chair by her hair.

"Are you crazy?" shrieked Pansy attempting to swat away Hermione's hand.

Hermione just ignored her protest and yanked her outside. "I think you're the one who's lost it."

"I don't know who you think you are but-"

"But nothing Pansy. I'm his _fiance, _he's going to marry me. And I don't give a damn about what you and Draco had. It's in the past and that's exactly where it's going to stay."

Before Hermione knew it, Pansy had launched herself at her. Luckily Hermione wasn't a push over. As soon as they hit the floor Hermione was on top, holding Pansy down by her hair. This made it almost impossible for Pansy to move at all.

"I'm gonna say it one more time. You kiss Draco again, or make a move on him in any way, and I promise you I'm not gonna hold back. We're not at Hogwarts anymore Pansy, you're done walking all over me." she pushed up and away from her, not sparing Draco, the crowd, or Pansy a second glance as she disappeared into the crowd heading down the street.

She was sure that if she stayed and tried to talk to Draco she would have ended up punching _him_ in the face, and that's not what she wanted.

* * *

Draco didn't know what Hermione had seen, or if it really even mattered. He was the one who'd let it happen. I mean Hermione had told him that Pansy wasn't there for any type of business that he'd be interested in, and she'd been right.

He'd spent the past half hour drinking Fire Whiskey and pacing the living room. He hadn't known where to look for Hermione and she hadn't answered her phone when he'd called.

He couldn't deny the fact that he'd been very surprised when Hermione had gotten physical. It's not that he didn't think she _could, _it was just that he didn't think she _would. _Either way, though, he was proud to have her stand up to Pansy.

He heard the door click open and heard Hermione's heels click along the marble of the foyer.

"Draco?" she called out, pausing to hang her coat up.

He stepped out into the hallway and she walked over to him, and without saying a word, she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him.

He sighed into her neck and crushed her close to himself.

"I love you." she said quietly.

"And I love you."

"Let's not fight about her. Whatever happened isn't important."

Draco smiled and kissed her forehead and she relaxed into him. He slowly began rubbing his hand up and down her back, grazing the bare skin there.

"Did I tell you how beautiful you look in that dress?"

She chuckled and nipped at his lower lip, "Only about a million times before we left home."

"I can't help it." he said nuzzling her neck and bringing her hips closer to his.

She had to bite back a moan at the feeling, instead digging her nails into his shoulders.

"Hey now, we haven't even gotten to the good part yet." he chuckled and grazed his teeth against her ear, causing her to shiver at the feeling.

"I didn't think you had time to let your imagination run wild."

"Oh trust me, I have plenty of ideas." he said, his eyes dark with desire, clear molten silver.

"Care to share?"

He started kissing down her neck and then moved back up by her ear, "Let's go upstairs."

He took her hand, but before they reached the staircase there was a knock on the door. Hermione groaned and leaned her forehead against Draco's chest.

"I could ignore it?" he offered.

Before Hermione could say anything the knocking got louder and more incessant.

"Just answer it." she said watching him walk to the door.

"Father?"

* * *

Lucius stood outside the door, his eyes frantic. More frantic than Draco had seen them since the war.

"Why won't you just consider what Pansy is offering? Her family could build us back up to where we used to be! People would respect the Malfoy name again."

"You think I give a damn about our name? You think I give a damn about Pansy and her offer? Did you put her up to this, or do you just support it?" shot Draco. He was blocking the doorway so Lucius wasn't aware that Hermione was there too.

"I simply told her that she should consider proposing the offer to you. I had hoped that you would respect the family enough to try to do what was best for-"

"Like you tried to do what was best for this family? Oh, that's right, you didn't. The only thing you cared about was yourself. Don't try to make me pay for your fuck up."

"Marrying Pansy is the smart thing to do." said Lucius trying to reason with his son.

"Have you ever stopped to consider that marrying Hermione is the right thing to do, not only because I love her, but because she makes me a better person than I could ever be with Pansy, or with _anybody?_"

Lucius was quiet for a moment, but then he just shook his head, "I hope that Mudblood is worth the hell you're going to go through."

"Is that a threat?" asked Draco, his voice laced with anger.

"Sadly it's a promise, and believe it or not, it's not from me. There are a lot more people with an even worse opinion on this marriage than me, and I'm sure they're going to make that known."

Hermione didn't have to hear the pop that signaled Lucius' departure because the atmosphere in the room was considerably less stressful.

Draco closed the door and walked back over to Hermione, pulling her into his arms. "I'm sorry." he whispered into her hair.

"It's not your fault. I just don't want you to feel like you have to stay with me because-"

He moved her so that she was looking at him, "I am not with you because I have to be. I'm with you because I love you more than anything, and I will not let anybody take you away from me. Okay?"

"Okay," she said smiling.

"Now," he said lowering his lips to hers, "Where were we?"

"Haha, are you sure you want to try this again? Seems to me like every time we try we get interrupted."

"Voldemort's army could come through that door and it wouldn't stop me." he said, his voice turning to velvet.

"Well then what the hell are we waiting for?"

He swept her up into his arms and carried her up the stairs, "Hope you don't plan on sleeping, Love."


	13. Chapter 13

**Alright, I have a couple ideas for where I want the story to go from here, but if any of you guys have any ideas I'd love to hear them. Stuff like if they should wait for their beach wedding or if they should just run off, if I should bring Harry and Ginny into the story more, etc.**

* * *

Draco ran his tongue along the hollow of Hermione's throat, eliciting a soft moan from her.

"Draco you're a little to good at teasing for me to-"

But he stopped her with a kiss that took her breath away. He chuckled and pushed her back against the wall, pinning her hands above her head.

"A little rough there Mr. Malfoy." said Hermione, her heart beating a little faster. She loved it when Draco just let go and didn't worry so much about if he was gonna break her. She wasn't exactly a porcelin doll.

He murmured a spell that kept her hands pinned over her head, and then moved his hands to the wall on either side of her head.

"I could stop." He dropped his head so that he wass whispering into the side of her neck, his breath tickling her.

"I'll kill you if you do." she said smiling.

"What if I told you I wanted to take you right here?" he asked, his tone just bordering on a growl.

Hermione felt the heat pool between her legs and she struggled against the invisible bindings that held her against the wall, unable to touch him.

That surely didn't keep him from touching her. He slowly untied the knot at the back of her dress, causing it to slide down her body and pool around her feet on the floor. This left her in only a pair of sheer lace underwear. "Merlin," he said kissing her again.

He ran his hand up and down her sides and brought the other one up to massage her breast, teasing and pinching her nipple until it stood erect. Then he moved on to the other one, repeating the process.

Hermione moaned again as he brought his mouth down to her one breast and then the other, gently biting and sucking.

"Draco, please," she panted.

He chuckled and moved back up to her lips, just barely close enough to graze his lips against hers when he answered her, "No, I think I'll tease you some more. I intend to drive you _crazy _Love." he said sliding his hand down to her now drenched underwear.

"Oh, Draco," she moaned as he slipped one long finger into her.

He bit back a moan of his own as he felt her clench around his finger. He quickly stripped off what was left of his clothes and then lifted Hermione up so that she was back against the wall with her legs wrapped around his waist.

He ground against her slowly, rubbing himself up against her sensitive clit.

"Oh Merlin, Draco please," she said tugging on the restraints again.

Hermione felt the bindings disappear and threw her arms around his neck and ran her hands through his hair.

He gripped her waist and thrusted into her in one quick momvement.

She met Draco thrust for thrust, pushing back against him.

"Oh Merlin, Draco I'm-I'm-" just then her body was taken over with spasms and she screamed out his name.

Draco continued to pump into her, drawing out her orgasm for as long as he could. He thrusted two more times and then came himself.

He caught his breath slightly, and carried her over to the bed, laying her down in the middle of it.

"What do you think about a round two?"

She smiled to herself, just like old times.

* * *

"Hermione, I told you, you look fantastic in everything you've tried on."

Hermione rolled her eyes. Wasn't it his job to tell her that?

"I just want to make sure it looks perfect. I only get to do this once."

At that Draco smiled and took her hand, pulling her onto his lap. "Only once." he repeated, kissing her softly.

Narcissa had insisted that Hermione take Draco with her to look at wedding dresses, and then she would go with her and pick out one for real. She thought that Hermione's dress should be fancy and have lace and beading...the 'works'.

Hermione thought it was a big waste of time. She'd much rather just go in something simple and classic, but Narcissa and Draco came from a different world, and as much as she wanted to think that she knew Draco, what Narcissa said did make sense.

So here she was, trying on dresses that she couldn't care less about, and that she thought she didn't look good in. These dresses were more Pansy's style, and as much as she hated to admit it, she was sure Pansy would look a hell of a lot better in these dresses than she did.

She sighed and stood up, looking at herself again. She had on a long white ball gown with a lace bodice with beading across the sides. As much as she tried to like it, she knew it just wasn't her, and Draco knew it too.

"Love, if you don't like it, why are you even considering it?"

Hermione groaned and ran a hand through her tangled hair, "Because,"

Draco rolled his eyes and went to stand behind her so they were both facing the mirror with his hands on her shoulders. "Hermione, I can stand here and tell you that you look stunning in everything, and it'd be the truth, but if you don't believe me, it doesn't matter what I tell you. I want you to love the dress, because if you love it, I'll love it."

She leaned back into him and he moved his arms to her waist. "You know, I think I'm going to call it quits for today. It's not like we've even set a date yet."

"Which is something we should probably talk to my mother about."

Narcissa had offered to plan everything down to the last detail, with their approval of course. But this meant that they ran the risk of having a wedding that was completely over the top. Draco hoped that since Hermione had said she wanted to have a beach wedding his mother would keep it relatively simple.

He hoped.

"Where is she anyway?" she asked as she slipped back into her own clothes.

"I think she's meeting with caterers in Hawaii." he said slinging his arm around her shoulders.

Hermione waved goodbye to the woman behind the counter and followed Draco out the door, "Do you think we should be helping? I mean it is our wedding."

"Do you really want to be stuck doing everything? Believe it or not, she really does like doing things like this."

Hermione wanted to argue that she was worried the wedding would turn into something way too extravagant, but from what Narcissa had told her, Draco grew up with the best, so who was she to try to change that?

"What's on your mind?" he asked as they walked into the Leakey Cauldron.

They sat down at one of the tables by the window and ordered drinks.

"Nothing really, just thinking about everything I guess." she really wasn't trying to lie to Draco, but everything was already stressful enough without her adding to it.

"Have you talked to Ron or Harry lately?"

"I haven't talked to Ron, but Harry and Ginny were talking about having us over for dinner sometime soon...I mean if you're okay with that." she added with a smile.

He chuckled and nodded, "Of course."

They sat in a comfortable silence for a while until Hermione asked a question that had been on her mind for a while. "What are you going to do about Pansy?"

Draco ran a hand through his hair and looked out the window, then back at Hermione. "Nothing,"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I'm going to ignore her. Whatever plan she and my father are trying to come up with isn't going to work."

Hermione smiled, "Maybe I could talk to her again."

Draco laughed and said, "Yeah, you'd do about as much talking as it'd take to tell her she's about to get punched."

"Well what's wrong with that?" asked Hermione, trying to supress her smile.

Draco put his hand over hers and smiled, "Not a thing Love, not a thing."

* * *

**So this chapter was basically just fluff until I get some input from where you guys want this to go, plus I have really bad writers block. :p Oh well, let me know! **


	14. Chapter 14

**Okay so I've read some ideas you guys had, and a lot of them were really good. Alot of people want Hermione knocked up lol, and they finally want Narcissa to tell Lucius off. Let's just see what happens. (:**

* * *

"Don't you think you should have given us a bit more of a heads up?"

Narcissa had dropped by with the news that their engagement party was next weekend. Apparently she had taken care of most of the invitations, the catering, and the decorations.

"Why? There's nothing you need to worry about. I've got everything handled."

"Mother, I don't think-"

"Thank you Narcissa," interupted Hermione, giving Draco a look. "We really appreciate it."

Narcissa smiled and gave Hermione a hug, "Now don't forget, it starts at seven. Oh, and I hope you don't mind Hermione, but we did green and silver as the main colors."

Hermione rolled her eyes, of course. "It's no problem." She was sure that she could add a little...Gryffindor pride once she got there. If not she knew Harry, Ron, or Ginny would.

Draco smirked as if he read her mind, "Does that mean we should wear green?"

Hermione was literally shooting daggers at Draco, but Narcissa didn't seem to notice it.

"Since when do you ask me what to wear Draco?"

"It just seems like you're working so hard on everything, we just wanna make sure everything looks as great as you think it will." he said smiling at Narcissa.

She smiled back, completely clueless to what Draco was really up to, "Well it would be nice if you could wear green, just so if there are people that don't agree with your marriage they'll see that you two are committed I mean do you know how big it would be if you," she said turning to Hermione, "showed up in Draco's colors? They'd see that you can put everything behind you."

Hermione sighed, "Fine. I'll wear green." In actuality she had no intention of wearing green at all, but it was easier to just go with the flow...for now.

"Lovely!" clapped Narcissa. "Everyone will love it. Do you need me to help you find a dress because I know this-"

"Thank you, but that's okay. I can handle that part."

Draco was thankful for that. He knew that if his mother took her shopping for a dress she would end up one of two ways. Either looking exactly like Pansy, or entirely too modest for his taste. For some reason Hermione knew exactly what to wear to drive him crazy.

"Well I will see you guys soon. I've got a few things to discuss with Lucius."

"How is he?" asked Draco.

Hermione excused herself, she didn't feel right intruding on something like that. Instead she decided to go upstairs and search her closet for something to wear to the engagement party.

Downstairs Narcissa was trying to pacify Draco.

"Darling he'll come around! You just have to give him time."

"How much time does he need? How much time do I need to give him before I can tell him to sod off?" he snapped, trying to keep his voice down so Hermione wouldn't hear them.

"I'm sure once he sees how happy the two of you are at the engagement party he'll have to accept it."

"If you say so."

"Just give him one more chance, and if not I will personally take care of it. Nothing, not even your father, is going to ruin my baby's day." she said giving Draco a kiss on the cheek and disappearing with a pop.

Draco hoped his mother was right.

"Hermione?"

He walked upstairs into their bedroom and found her elbow deep in her closet.

"Love...what are you doing?" he asked, unable to contain a slight chuckle.

She smiled at him and stood up, "I was looking for something to wear to the engagement party."

"You know you could just go out and buy something."

Hermione rolled her eyes and sat down on the bed, "If you think for one second that I'm going to wear green to-"

Draco bent down and captured her lips in a kiss.

"Draco you can't just kiss me and expect..."

He had pushed her back onto the bed and was nibbling on her neck. Hermione wanted to hold her ground, but it was hard with him right there.

"What was that Love?" he whispered.

She forced herself to push him away and stand up. "No, you are not just going to seduce me into wearing green. You know damn well that Harry, Ron, and Ginny would kill me if I showed up in green. It's bad enough that the entire engagement theme is basically Slytherin."

He smirked at her from his spot on the bed. "Love, you make me feel like I've lost my touch."

Hermione rolled her eyes and sat back down on the bed next to him, "You haven't lost your touch, I just refuse to wear green."

"Why?"

"Would you wear red for me?" she asked instead.

He smiled, "If I wear red will you wear green?"

"Are you serious? she asked. Draco had never wore anything red in his life, of that she was certain.

"Yes, I'm serious."

Hermione studied him for a moment and then nodded, "Fine...this will be interesting."

Draco wasn't exactly thrilled about wearing red, but if it would prove to Hermione that he loved her, he was all for it.

* * *

"Oh, you look wonderful." said Hermione.

Draco had put on his best suit, only difference was that now it had a red tie and a gold hankerchief in the pocket.

He turned around and was literally speechless. Hermione had on a long shimmery emerald green dress that flowed down her body with a slit up the side. Her curly hair was piled on top of her head with a few pieces framing her face, and small white crystal flowers throughout her hair. Draco couldn't help but think she was glowing. This was definitely worth wearing red for.

"What do you think?" she asked quietly.

He stepped close to her and leaned down, his breath a whisper across her cheek, "You look beautiful."

Hermione let out a relieved breath and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Thank you."

"I'm sure this is going to make a statement." he said chuckling.

At this point Hermione couldn't care less about the engagement party, the guests, or anything that didn't involve staying home and undressing her fiance.

"Whether or not some people like it or not is a different story." she said kissing his cheek.

He laughed, "Wouldn't be the first time."

Hermione couldn't help but laugh too, he was right. The things Lucius had said to her were hurtful, but she didn't see how it could be any worse. They had overcome him, they could overcome anything. And they would. Together.

* * *

**Ok, I didn't really have time to write a longer chapter because I'm in a haunted house, but I promise the engagement party and what happens after will be better. And there should be a Lemon in a few chapters. **


	15. Chapter 15

**I'm only going to be updating on weekends from now on because i'm back in school . Keep reading, keep reviewing . Thanks and enjoy!**

* * *

They entered the huge ballroom where the engagement party was happening and saw that a lot of the guests were already there. And by alot, there were _alot_ of people. Most of which Hermione didn't know, but seemed to be relatives of Draco.

She scanned the crowd in search of someone she knew, when out of the corner of her eye she saw Pansy talking with Narcissa.

"Let me make one thing extremely clear, if you do anything, and I mean _anything_ to ruin Hermione and Draco's day I will personally make sure that everyone is very aware of the fact that you practically _begged_ my son to be in a relationship with you. How would that look for your family?" said Narcissa with a smile.

Pansy opened and closed her mouth a few times before storming off into the hallway.

Narcissa was pleased that at least for now Pansy wasn't a problem. Her husband on the other hand, wherever he was, would be a different story.

* * *

"Hermione you look gorgeous!" said Ginny winking at Draco. "Quite the catch there yourself Draco."

"Thank you Ginevra."

Ginny rolled her eyes, aside from Harry, Draco was the only person who called her by her full name.

"Do you know if Ron's coming?" asked Hermione.

Harry shrugged his shoulders and looked to Ginny.

"Well I think he said he'd stop by." she said slowly.

Hermione sighed and leaned back into Draco who had his arms around her waist. "I just want him to be okay."

"He will be. I mean this is Ron we're talking about. The same Ron who barfed up slugs in first year and almost killed himself trying to get that third year to notice him. If anything he rebounds fast." said Ginny, giving Hermione a reassuring pat on the hand.

"I hope so." Just then Ginny and Harry's song came on. "Go dance."

The two smiled at her and took to the dance floor.

"Do you think Lucius will show up?" Hermione asked Draco, twisting around so she was facing him.

"I don't know. I hope not. I don't want a confrontation."

Hermione nodded in agreement and lightly pressed a kiss to his lips. Draco moaned softly and leaned his head down so that it rested on her shoulder. He pressed his lips against her neck and whispered, "I can't wait to get you home and all to myself."

"And what exactly are you going to do when you have me?" she whispered back.

Before he could answer a bell sounded to signify dinner was being served.

He smiled and led her over to the biggest table where Narcissa, Ginny, and Harry were already seated.

They sat down and began eating, and talking.

"Have you thought about names?" Hermione asked Harry and Ginny across the table.

"A little. If it's a girl Harry wants to name her Raiyna and if it's a boy he wants to name him Jace."

"What will you do if it's twins?" mused Hermione.

Meanwhile Draco placed his hand on Hermione's bare thigh where the dress had its slit. She gave him a brief look, but didn't pay it much attention, she was used to him always finding a way to touch her.

"Oh Merlin, I hope not. One child will be enough to handle." said Ginny smiling.

"Two babies twice the fun." said Harry placing a hand on Ginny's belly.

It's not like she was far enough along to be showing, but Hermione liked to think that you could see a little baby bump if you looked close enough.

"Well I'm sure the two of you will make great parents." All of a sudden Draco started inching his hand higher and higher up her dress towards her lacey panties.

Hermione swatted his hand away and continued her conversation with Ginny, but Draco wasn't so easily deterred. The way she was sitting had the slit of her dress exposing silky green lace underwear and that alone was doing a good job of making his pants a little tighter.

He moved his hand back and trailed it up her thigh again. This time she just tried to ignore him, but it was hard to ignore the heat that was begining to pool between her legs.

Draco noticed this and lightly grazed his fingers along the hem of her underwear causing her to jump.

"Are you alright Hermione?" asked Ginny.

Hermione laughed nervously and nodded, "Yes, I'm fine."

Draco smirked and slid his fingers inside, confirming that she was wet for him already.

"Let's go mingle everyone." said Narcissa ushering everyone out onto the floor.

Draco pulled Hermione away into a dimly lit corner behind a stone pillar.

"That is not appropriate dinner table behavior." scolded Hermione.

Draco leaned down and kissed her, "I don't think you minded too much."

"Hush." she said sticking her tongue out. He stepped in front of her, blocking her from the crowd and slid his hand up her thigh again.

"Draco, we're in public." she whispered.

He smiled down at her, "Is that supposed to stop me?" He slipped his hand into her underwear and started slowly rubbing her.

Hermione groaned involuntarily and put a hand on Draco's shoulder.

"Draco, what if someone hears us?"

"It's you they're going to hear." he said increasing the pressure and his speed.

She moaned again and dug her nails into his shoulder. The more she tried not to move, the closer she got to coming all over his hand.

"Draco-oh Merlin-I can't do this." she panted.

He kissed her neck, "Come for me Love."

His words sent her over the edge and she had to bite down on her lip to keep herself from screaming. She leaned her head against his shoulder and tried to regain her breath. Draco would have continued his teasing, but just then he heard his name.

"Where is he?"

"Lucius will you calm down? He's probably talking with Hermione." said Narcissa chasing after him.

"Draco!" he shouted again.

"I could apparate us out of here?" he whispered quietly.

Hermione chuckled and composed herself so quickly that even Draco was surprised, "No, because then he'll just show up somewhere else. Let's just deal with it now."

He nodded and followed Hermione over to Lucius.

"You've had your fun, had your parties, now it's time to get serious." said Lucius.

Pansy appeared beside him, a smug look on her face that Hermione wanted nothing more than to remove personally.

"Pansy has much more to offer than this little Mudblood."

"And what exactly would that be?" asked Draco, one hand wrapped around Hermione, and the other in a fist at his side.

"Pansy has class, money, and a good name behind her. What does she have?" he asked looking at Hermione with undisguised disgust. "All she's good for is spreading her legs."

Hermione stiffined, but before she could have much more of a reaction Draco was in his father's face, seconds away from attacking him.

"How dare you. Pansy has nothing, and I mean _nothing_ on Hermione. And if you think for one second that I'm going to stand here and let you talk about her like this in a room full of guests for our _engagement party_ or otherwise, you really don't know the son you raised at all."

"It's not my fault that you choose to lower yourself to the likes of her. I mean for Merlin's sake Draco she doesn't even have parents."

At that the entire room seemed to freeze. Hermione felt like the air had literally been knocked out of her. She had heard Lucius say some pretty evil things to her, but never had he mentioned her parents. She thought that even he wouldn't stoop so low, but apparently she had been wrong.

Hermione shook her head and quickly blinked away the tears that were forming, "If you'll excuse me."

"Hermione wait," Ginny, Harry, and Draco all went to follow her, but she put her hand up and kept walking.

Draco was about to follow her anyway when he heard his mother, the usually calm, collected, and polite woman, completely and totally blow up.

"Have you completely lost your mind?"

Lucius tried to interrupt her but she pointed her finger at him, her piercing blue eyes looked like steel. "No, I'm talking now. I've sat back and let you make a complete and utter arse of yourself and I am done. Do you hear me Lucius, _done_. You have done everything in your power to make Hermione feel unwelcome, unwanted, and unworthy of our son, when it's _you_ who isn't worthy of a _wonderful, bright, _and _lovely_ daughter-in-law like Hermione, and I will be damned if I let you ruin our son's chance at happiness because you can't get past old archaic ways of thinking. So you can do one of two things. You can either accept Hermione into this family and drop all your negativity towards her. Or two, you can file for divorce papers, because I will want nothing to do with you."

"You're not serious, Narcissa. I-"

"I have never been more serious about something in my _entire_ life." she said picking up her purse from the table.

"So now I'm going to go find Hermione, and you can stay here, or you can leave, but until you figure out exactly what choice it is that you're going to make you cannot come home, and no," she said, stopping him before he even had the chance to argue it, "This is not up for discussion."

With that Draco, Narcissa, Ginny, and Harry went to go find Hermione.

* * *

**I hope you guys liked this chapter, I actually had a lot of fun writing it because I've been _waiting_ for the moment that I get to write Narcissa's big blowup. I hope you're as proud of her as I am (:**


	16. Chapter 16

**Thanks for all the nice reviews on the last chapter, I really appreciate it! Enjoy this next chapter (:**

* * *

It seemed to Draco that Hermione had completely dropped off the face of the earth. He, Narcissa, Ginny, and Harry had looked everywhere for her, and they'd still come up with nothing. And that wasn't for a lack of trying. They'd searched the Leakey Cauldron, all of Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade, Ron's house, their home, they'd even checked the library and she was literally _nowhere._

"Why don't you guys go home? Hermione's a smart girl, and if we can't find her it's obviously because she doesn't want to be found." said Draco running a hand through his hair, utterly frustrated.

How could his father turn a night that was supposed to be fun into something awful.

"I'm sure she's okay." said Harry, pulling his wand out to apparate him and Ginny home.

Draco nodded absentmindedly, "Thank you for helping."

"Don't mention it."

After they were gone Narcissa pulled out her wand as well, but Draco stopped her.

"I wanted to thank you."

"Don't. I told you I wouldn't let him continue to do what he's been doing. Now the choice is up to him as far as whether or not he's going to be a part of this family, but Draco," she said fixing her son with a look that only a mother can give her son, "That is the _only_ thing that's up to him. You and Hermione are going to have a wonderful life and family of your own, regardless of whether Lucius is there or not."

Draco smiled, "Thank you mother."

Narcissa nodded and apparated home.

But Draco wasn't ready to go home himself. He had thought of one more place to look that the others hadn't thought of.

The graveyard.

* * *

Hermione sat cross legged on the ground in front of two large tombstones, randomly pulling up pieces of grass.

"Do you know how hard it is to plan a wedding? I'm lucky I've got Narcissa, because if not I'd be doomed since I don't have you there."

She had never gone to her parent's graves before to "talk" to them, but after the night she'd had, she just felt like she needed some sense of normalcy, something that was familiar, and this was as close as she could get to it.

Hermione didn't know it, but Draco had walked up behind her and was quietly listening.

"I think you'd really like Draco, he's wonderful. I've never met anyone like him before." she said sighing. "He's the one person I know I can talk to about anything and not have to worry about him seeing me any differently. He reminds me of you a lot of the time Dad. You'd be proud. I mean he's even more protective of me than you were." she said letting out a short laugh.

Her father had always looked out for her, and she was sure that he would have adored Draco for the simple fact that he would be able to see how much Draco cared for her.

"And Narcissa's been amazing with everything, especially since Lucius-" she broke off and quickly tried to blink away the tears that sprang to her eyes. "She's really lovely. I mean without her we'd probably be getting married in our backyard."

"Because Merlin knows that I'm no good at planning." said Draco, stepping over to her.

Hermione snapped her head up and looked at him, "How did you find me?"

He sat down next to her and pulled her close to his side, "We looked everywhere for you, and this was the last place I thought of to look, but when I did I knew you'd be here."

"We?"

"Ginny, Harry, and Narcissa were helping me look."

Hermione couldn't help but smile. She was really touched that she had friends who would search for her until two in the morning, but she was also really glad that it was only Draco who had come here.

"Thank you for finding me." she said quietly.

"Hermione," he said, turning her face so that she was looking into his shimmering silver eyes, "I will _always _find you."

He pressed his lips to hers in a soft kiss. A kiss that didn't scream of longing or of lust, just of compassion and support. It was everything Hermione needed.

"So Mr. Granger, I hope you're okay with me marrying your daughter, because I love her more than anything on this planet and I promise to take care of her-always." said Draco turning to look at her father's tombstone.

Hermione's eyes teared up again, "I think he'd approve." she whispered.

He smiled at her, "I hope so."

All of a sudden there was a scratching noise, and in the dirt in front of them there was a message that almost made Hermione's heart stop.

_I approve, Angel._

* * *

"I guess that's your answer." she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

She was shocked and in complete disbelief over what had just happened, and even though the book worm-smarty pants-know it all part of her didn't want to believe that her father could actually be giving her the sign she'd been waiting for for so long, there was a part of her, the bigger part, that believed it.

"Thank you." whispered Draco. It was almost too quiet for Hermione to hear, and she was pretty sure that she wasn't supposed to hear it, but the fact that Draco had really wanted her father's approval was more than a little touching.

"Let's go home." she said squeezing his hand.

He nodded and pulled out his wand, "Home it is."

* * *

"The look on Pansy's face last night when my mother put Lucius in his place was something I wish I could have caught on camera." said Draco the next morning.

They had both decided to spend the day in bed, taking advantage of their quiet rainy Sunday. Draco had his arm around Hermione and was twirling a strand of her hair around his finger while telling her about how Narcissa had went off on Lucius.

"Sounds like something to frame and put above the fireplace." she said laughing.

Draco laughed with her and said, "It'd be the focal point of the entire house."

Hermione snorted and swung her feet out of bed, "I'm hungry."

"Let me-"

"Oh stop babying me." she said playfully. "I'm not broken, Draco."

"I know. You're way too strong for that." he said stepping in front of her to block the doorway.

"Draco," she said attempting to push him out of her way.

He chuckled, "Am I in your way Love?"

Hermione squinted her eyes up at him and sighed, "Why are you always so difficult?"

"Difficult? Me?" he asked leaning his head down to graze his lips against hers. "I don't know what you mean."

She leaned forward unconsciously and kissed him. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist and started walking her back towards the bed.

Before he knew what she was doing Hermione ducked out of his grasp and ran out of the bedroom, making a bee line for the kitchen.

He laughed and ran a hand through his hair, that was his Hermione.

He followed her downstairs and found her opening the window for an owl. They hadn't gotten a letter this way in years.

"Who's it from?" asked Draco.

Hermione shrugged and tore open the envelope to reveal a small piece of parchment paper.

"I think...I think this is from your father." she said, handing the paper to him.

* * *

**What do you guys think Lucius wants? (: stay tuned. Lemon maybe?**


	17. Chapter 17

**I think I hear the pitter patter of little feet...**

* * *

"It is."

Draco unfolded the piece of paper and started reading out loud.

"Draco, I'm sorry. Your mother is not allowing me into the house, nor is she even speaking to me. I clearly have a lot of things to think about over the next few days. I do not wish to lose you, or your mother, and if that means accepting Hermione I will need to try. For now I'll be away for a few weeks, but I will be in touch. Cordially, Lucius Malfoy."

"Well that's good...right?"

Draco shrugged and crumpled the paper up, tossing it into the trash. "I'm not expecting much from him anymore. We'll just have to see."

Hermione nodded. "What do you want for breakfast?" she asked turning to look at him.

"You?" he said, a glint in his eye.

"Ah, sorry dear, I'm not on the menu."

"Well you should be."

Hermione laughed and pulled pancake mix out of the pantry. "How do pancakes sound?"

"It sounds like the second best thing here." he said with a wink.

"Oh shutup and hand me the olive oil."

He chuckled but did as she asked. "You know, I feel like we broke a tradition last night."

"What do you mean?"

"Well it's the first night that we went out and I didn't come home and _ravish_ you." he said sliding in front of her.

Hermione laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Well maybe we could make up for it."

"Oh really?" he asked, pulling her hips flush against his.

"Oh most definitely." she purred kissing his neck.

Draco's hands tightened on Hermione's waist as he felt himself start to get hard.

He captured her lips in a kiss and pushed her back against the counter, sliding one of his legs between hers.

"Mmm, Draco," she said as he kissed her neck.

She started unbuttoning his shirt while he slid his hands underneath her shirt to cup her breasts.

She slid his shirt off and it fell to the floor behind him. He lifted her up onto the counter and slid his hand up her thigh, surprised at what he felt.

"No underwear?"

She blushed and shrugged, "Hey, you're shirts long enough that I don't have to worry about it."

He smiled and kissed her again, "That is incredibly sexy."

He slid her shirt up and began slowly rubbing his thumb against her clit.

She moaned and dropped her head onto his shoulder and tangled her hands into his hair. "Draco," she panted.

He slid a finger into her and she bit back a moan, digging her nails into his back.

He groaned at the feeling, and started rubbing his painfully hard erection against her core.

"Draco _please."_ she said pulling down the waistband of his sweatpants.

He kissed and lightly bit her neck, slowly moving back up to her lips.

Without warning he thrust into her and began a steady tempo. He would slide all the way in and then come almost all the way out, and then he'd do it all over again.

Hermione was moaning and pushing back against him and he was clenching his teeth to keep from coming. He slid his hand up her shirt to massage her breast while his other hand stayed on her waist.

"Oh Merlin," she mumbled leaning her head back against the counter. Draco never ceased to be amazed at how incredibly erotic Hermione tended to look without even trying.

"Hermione, Love, look at me." he whispered.

She opened her eyes and bit her lip, feeling herself getting extremely close.

Draco sped up his pace, and within a few seconds Hermione was coming. "Oh Merlin, Draco!"

At the sound of his name falling from her lips he let go and came inside her with a shuddering groan. He leaned his head against her shoulder and she was breathing heavily, trying to catch her breath.

He pressed soft kisses along her cheeks, neck, and temples, finally coming to a stop at her lips.

"You're beautiful, Love." he whispered.

She smiled and kissed him softly. "We should break tradition more often if it means sex like that."

He chuckled and nodded in agreement. He slid out of her and she moaned involuntarily at the feeling. He smiled deviously and knelt down in front of her so that his face was between her legs.

"Who said we were finished yet?"

He brought his mouth to her already over-sensitized clit and began sucking on it whle he held her hips down with his hands.

"Oh Merlin, Draco."she said trying to squirm away from him. "I can't, ohh Merlin, I can't."

He began sliding his tongue in and out of her wet entrance, causing her to grasp onto his hair and moan.

He moved back up to her clit and began sliding his fingers in and out of her.

"Ohh...Draco...I'm gonna...oh Merlin."

"Do it Hermione." he whispered against her clit, the vibrations causing her to scream out his name while she came.

He slowly kissed his way back up her stomach to her lips. She slid off the counter and knelt in front of him.

She took his hard member in her hand and began just barely flicking her tongue against the tip before sliding it all the way down his shaft and back up.

His breathing became shallow and he threaded his hands through her hair.

She looked up at him with a smile and slowly took all of him into her mouth. He groaned as he felt her warm wet mouth around his shaft and he had to make a conscious effort not to thrust into her mouth.

She had one hand on his hip and the other on the base of his penis. She began moving her head faster and then began sucking on just the head.

"Fuck, Hermione." he panted, feeling his balls clench as he fought for control that was quickly failing.

A few seconds later he shuddered and came in her mouth. Hermione smiled up at him and licked her lips.

He groaned and pulled her up, crashing his lips against hers.

"I love you." he mumbled, not moving his lips away from hers.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered, "I love you too."

* * *

Hermione woke up the early the next morning feeling a bit queasy but when she sat up she downright felt like she was going to throw up.

She ran into the bathroom and threw up, leaning her head against the side of the toilet when nothing else would come up.

All of a sudden there was a light knock on the door, "Hermione are you okay?"

"Ugh, Draco get out." she complained trying to close the door with her foot, but he stopped it with his hand and stepped into the bathroom, kneeling down beside her.

"What happened?" he asked, placing a cool hand on her forehead.

She closed her eyes and tried to will away the feeling of nauseousness. "I dont know. I just woke up feeling sick. I think I might be catching a cold or something."

"Well come back to bed Love, it's only three in the morning. Maybe you'll feel better in a few hours."

Hermione nodded and followed him back into bed, hoping that when she woke up she wouldn't feel so awful.

* * *

**Hope you all enjoyed it (:**


	18. Chapter 18

**There is no difficulty that enough love will not conquer, no disease that enough love will not heal, no door that enough love will not bridge, no wall that enough love will not throw down, no sin that enough love will not redeem... It makes no difference how deeply seated may be the trouble, how hopeless the outlook, how muddled the tangle, how great the mistake. A sufficient realization of love will dissolve it all. If only you could love enough, you could be the happiest and most powerful being in the world... **

** ~Emmet Fox **

* * *

Hermione went about her day as usual, but she felt a little under the weather. Better than this morning, but still.

"Are you alright?" asked Julianna.

Hermione nodded, "Yes I'm alright, probably just coming down with a cold."

Julianna smiled and turned back to her computer, typing away.

Hermione grabbed a chart of the desk and headed down the hallway to one of her new patients she'd just been assigned.

She knocked once and then entered. There was a little blonde girl who couldn't have been more than 6 years old lying in the bed with various IV's coming out of her arms.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Granger." she said, walking over to the woman who was sitting by the bed.

The lady stood and shook her hand, "I'm Melissa Parker and this is my daughter Railynn."

"Hi!" she waved from the bed.

"Well hello Railynn." said Hermione, walking over to the bed and taking another look at the chart.

"So I see here that she was exposed to some type of potion?"

"Yes, I left her with the babysitter for a few hours while I went to work and I got a phone call and Jainine was frantic. She was saying something about how Railynn was having a sezure..." she broke off and ran a hand through her short black hair. "Anyway, all we know is that Conner, Jainine's boyfriend, was messing around with the potion ingredients in our lab and he mixed a lot of things together...he didn't know Railynn was down there, but she ended up getting the worst of the explosion."

"So basically she was exposed to an unknown toxin." she said, scribbling a few things down on the chart.

Melissa just nodded.

"Well we're going to go ahead and run some tests to see if we can figure out exactly what it is that we need to do to get Railynn better." said Hermione, smiling at the little girl.

She smiled back and clapped her hands.

Hermione placed the chart back on the end of Railynn's bed and then pushed open the door to leave, but before the door had closed all the way, she heard Raiylynn.

"She's really pretty mommy."

Hermione smiled and walked back towards the direction of the front desk when a wave of nauseousness hit her again.

"Ugh," she leaned one hand against the wall and took a few deep breaths. Within a few minutes the feeling passed and she walked over to the front to tell Julianna that she was leaving for the day.

"Alright dear, I hope you feel better."

"Thanks Jules." said Hermione, waving as she headed out.

* * *

She walked through Diagon Alley trying to think of what to do. Draco was still working for another hour, she hadn't talked to Ron since the last incident, Harry and Ginny had gone to look at a bigger flat for when they had their baby, and Narcissa was busy setting things up in Hawaii.

Hermione walked past a cute little boutique and stopped to look inside. It had cute dresses, including wedding dresses that seemed more her style than anything that she and Draco, or she and Narcissa had looked at before.

When she walked in she was greeted by an older woman with short red hair and a nice smile, "Welcome to Charmed, I'm Lana, is there anything in particular I can help you with?"

"Um...well, yes. I'm looking for a wedding dress."

"Did you have a particular style in mind?" she asked, walking back towards the racks of dresses.

"Just something simple and classy."

She smiled, "I thought so. You are Hermione Granger afterall."

Hermione sighed, since the war no matter where she went people still recognized her.

"Yeah..."

"Well I have a few in mind that you might like." she pulled a few dresses off the rack and walked her into one of the dressing rooms.

The first dress she tried on was a ballgown dress that she immediately took off the second it was on, the second one was a mermaid style with beading covering the entire bodice, which she spent little time contemplating, but the last one was different.

It was a floor length white satin gown that hugged her waist and then flowed the rest of the way, pooling onto the floor. The bodice had a few beads around the neckline, but that was it. The only other "dramatic" part of the dress was the back. It went down in a deep V, exposing most of her back.

"It's perfect." she whispered.

Lana smiled, "So is this the one?"

Hermione nodded, "It is."

"It look really beautiful on you. I'm sure your fiance is going to love it."

Hermione made arrangements to come back in two weeks to see if all the alterations were made correctly. She left the store, happy that she didn't have to worry about the dress anymore, _and_ that it was something she was absolutely in love with. Plus she was sure Draco would love it too.

* * *

When Draco got home he found Hermione asleep on the couch, a book on her stomach, wearing only one of his old t-shirts and one of his old Slytherin ties, and her hair in a messy bun.

He walked over to her and picked up the book, placed it on the coffee table, and then sat down next to her. He gently pressed a kiss to her forehead.

She stirred slightly and stretched, causing his shirt to rise up on her, exposing more of her cream colored legs.

He chuckled and stood up, not wanting to wake her up, and walked into the kitchen to make himself something to eat.

All of a sudden he heard the front door open and he raised an eyebrow, slightly confused, "Hello?"

"Hey, Draco."

"Hermione? I thought you were-"

"What the hell!"

Draco walked into the living room and found two Hermione's. What was going on.

"What the bloody hell..."

"Draco, darling, who is this?" asked the Hermione who had on his shirt. The other one stood glaring at her from the living room entry way.

"Pansy if that's you I swear I'm going to kill you."

"What? You're the imposter!" shouted the one in Draco's shirt.

Draco ran a hand through his hair and tried to focus. His father had taught him how to see through a Polyjuice potion. He looked at the Hermione who stood in the doorway and then the Hermione by the couch. All of a sudden he saw Hermione who stood by the couch start to shift and within seconds he saw none other than Pansy.

"Pansy."

She turned and looked at him, immediately realizing her mistake. "Damn it."

Not even two seconds later Hermione pulled her wand out and pointed it at her.

"Whoa, look I know this wasn't the best idea, but it wasn't _my_ idea!" she protested.

Hermione slightly lowered her wand and raised an eyebrow.

"Well then whose was it?" asked Draco.

Pansy stuck her nose in the air and pulled her wand from Merlin-knows-where. "Like I'd tell you."

Before either of them could argue with her she apparated away.

Hermione let out a frustrated scream and flung her wand across the room.

Draco walked over to her and tried to pull her into a hug, but she pulled away from him.

"I think I'm gonna be sick."

"Hermione nothing happened beween us if that's what you're-"

But she shook her head and ran to the bathroom.

Draco followed her, slightly worried, yet relieved that it wasnt necessarily Pansy that had caused this.

"How do you feel Love?" he asked when she walked out and flopped onto the couch.

"Like hell." she said as he sat down next to her.

"Hermione," he said casually. "Have you thought that maybe you might be...um...pregnant?"

Her eyes went wide and she shook her head. "No way."

"I mean it's not like we've been using protection."

She ran a hand through her hair and looked out the window. "I don't know. I think it's probably just a cold."

"What if it isn't?" he asked.

"I don't know Draco, what do you want me to say?"

"That you want it as much as I do."

"I don't know if I do though. I mean I'm not even sure I'm "mom" material." she said quietly.

"So you don't want to have kids."

"I didn't say that."

"Then what are you saying Hermione?" he asked, his volume rising, "Because I would really love to know."

She sighed and ran a hand through her hair, "Look, I just, I don't want this baby to be a surprise. I want to know that I can take care of her and be the mom that _my _mom was. And I just have a really hard time believing that I'm capable of that."

Draco sighed softly, "Hermione, you would make a _wonderful_ mother."

"You think so?"

He smiled and pulled her in for a kiss. "I know so."

"But,"

"But?" she asked.

"It's going to be a boy."

* * *

**Let me know what you guys think Pansy's up to, if you think Hermione would make a good mom, if she is pregnant what do you think it is, just what you think of the story in general. Hope you enjoyed. **

**~Lucinda **


	19. Chapter 19

Draco woke up snuggled close to Hermione. He had his arm wrapped around her waist lightly and her head rested on his chest.

He started trailing his hand up her side and then back down to her hip, causing a few sleepy noises to pass Hermione's lips.

"What time is it?" she asked stretching.

"Around ten." he placed a soft kiss on her forehead and sat up.

She grunted at the loss of body heat and glared up at him. "Lay back down."

He chuckled, "You know I do have to go to work."

At that she sat up, "What? Why didn't you wake me up!"

"Well-"

"And why didn't you go to work already?"

"Well-"

"I mean we do have-"

"Hermione!" he said shaking her playfully. "I didn't wake you because I called and told them you couldn't come in today."

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him, but didn't say anything.

"And I'm not at work because I wanted to make sure you were okay." he brushed one of her curls behind her ear, his hand lingering there.

"Well that's sweet, but I should still be at work."

"Hermione, you're not going to work, even if I have to stay here and tie you to the bed."

"Kinky." she said getting up and walking to the bathroom. She was feeling a little better. It had been a week since she had started feeling sick in the first place.

"You know, I thought you had to go to work." she said as he came and stood behind her.

"I do. I've got this client coming in today, Melissa Parker. Apparently she's-"

Hermione turned around and looked at him, "Melissa Parker...she doesn't have a daughter named Railynn does she?"

"Well, yes, but how did you know that?"

"I met both of them at the hospital last week. Railynn was admitted because she was exposed to an unknown toxin. We've been running tests since she got there and we're still no closer to finding out what's wrong with her now than we were when she was first admitted." said Hermione, visibly frustrated.

"I'm sure you'll find out what's wrong. They don't call you the brightest witch of our age for nothing you know." he said confidently.

Hermione sighed and hoped he was right. "Why did she come to you?"

"I think it's something to do with an investment. I'm not really sure of all the details. That's what I'm finding out today." he said kissing her.

She broke the kiss and placed her head on his chest instead, "I don't want to get you sick."

"It'd be worth it." he said tilting her head back up to kiss her again.

Hermione smiled into the kiss and placed her hands on either side of his face. "You should get to work. I've already made you late."

He sighed and hugged her tighter, "Why is it so hard to leave you?" he whispered into the crook of her neck.

She chuckled and gave him a playful shove. "Go to work. I'm gonna stop by the hospital just to make sure I'm alright."

"Alright, alright," he said laughing.

"I'll see you when I get home alright?"

Hermione nodded, "And maybe then we can celebrate my clean bill of health."

He laughed, "Of course."

* * *

Draco walked into his office to find Melissa already seated. "Oh, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting." he said sitting down behind his desk.

"It's no problem."

Draco nodded and asked, "Well, what can I do for you?"

"Well I know that you're one of the best business men around, and so I was just wondering if you maybe had any connections with lawyers or-"

"Lawyers?" he asked puzzeled. The last time anyone had come to him for anything lawyer related was three years ago.

"Yes, I've heard that you own a lot of different businesses so I figured you might be able to help me find the best lawyer. Cost isn't an issue."

"Well, alright. I would have to know what you need a lawyer for first though." he said pulling out a note pad.

"My husband-_ex_ husband, is suing me for custody of our daughter Railynn because of an accident that happened with her babysitter while I was out." she said, glancing at his desk for the first time. When she spotted a picture of Hermione she raised an eyebrow.

"How do you know Dr. Granger?"

Draco followed her glance to the photo of Hermione and smiled, "Well she's my fiance."

"Oh my, that's lovely." she said quietly. "You two do make a beautiful couple."

"Thank you." he said chuckling. "She was actually telling me about you before I left this morning."

"She did?" asked Melissa, a little surprised.

"Yes, but only about Railynn, she said that she suffered from some sort of toxic exposure."

Melissa nodded, "And that is why I need a lawyer."

Draco nodded and pulled out a list of his top lawyers in five different firms. "These are the best of the best. I can set up a meeting with each of them and you can go from there."

She took the paper from him and smiled, "Thank you."

"I'll be in touch." he said as she turned to leave.

Before she reached the door she turned and looked at him, "Is Dr. Granger alright?"

"Oh, yes, she just had a little cold. I'm sure that she's better now."

Melissa smiled, "Well that's good. Railynn's missed her."

* * *

Hermione had just gotten home from the hospital. The doctor had told her she'd had a minor stomach flu. Just for good measure they'd done a pregnancy test that had come up negative.

She was relieved, but a small part of her was slightly disappointed. It's not that she had wanted to be pregnant, but still. Most of her was happy though, because when they _would_ have a child it wouldn't be an accident.

She walked into the kitchen and started making dinner. She figured that once Draco got home he'd want something to eat, and since she hadn't really cooked in a while she decided now would be the perfect opportunity.

An hour later she had a full meal set out on the table. Satisfied with her work she sat down on the couch and turned on the T.V.

A few minutes later she heard the door open and Draco walked in.

"Hello Love." he said placing a kiss on her forehead. "What smells so good?"

"I cooked for you." she said standing and leading him into the dining room.

He smiled and pulled her chair out and then sat down himself. "Well it looks wonderful."

"How was work?" she asked as they brought their plates into the kitchen.

"It was okay. I met Melissa. She seemed very nice. I feel terrible for her and her daughter though."

Hermione nodded. "That's why I'm anxious to get back to work and see if we can figure out what's going on. I mean when I went to St. Mungo's for my appointment I stopped by and talked with one of the other doctors on her case and he said they ruled out a bunch of things that weren't wrong with her, but not what _is _wrong."

"I'm sure you'll figure it out Hermione."

"It's just so frustrating." she said, dropping the plate into the sink and turning to lean against the counter facing him.

"I mean she's so young, she hasn't had the chance to do anything yet, and here she is, _dying_ from some unknown chemical. And there is nothing-_nothing_ in any of the books I've read that match even _one _of her symptoms and on top of that-"

"Hermione, breathe." he said, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Working yourself up about it isn't going to help. You need to stay calm and positive, because right now, you and the other docors are her only hope. Plus Melissa needs you to be reassuring. I mean can you imagine what she's going through right now?"

Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "You're right. And no, I can't imagine it, nor would I want to. That has got to be the scariest situation ever."

Draco nodded and decided to change the subject, "What did the doctors say about you?"

"They said it was just a stomach bug. I'm fine now."

She noticed his face fall slightly and she felt bad. She wanted to give him a family like he wanted, but she didn't know if she was _capable_ of being the person he needed her to be. Hermione had never been that good with children and she felt like it would be impossible to raise a child without help from her own mother.

"Well that's good that you're healthy again." he said, attempting to cover it up.

Hermione sighed, "I'm sorry."

Draco attempted to say something, but she just shook her head and walked out of the kitchen.

"Hermione wait." he said catching her arm and turning her to face him.

She tried to avoid his gaze because her eyes were tearing up.

"Hermione, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-"

"No, I mean I get it. You want to have kids and you have a right to be disappointed, but Draco," she said looking up at him, a tear sliding down her face. "I'm _scared."_

He pulled her into his arms and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

"I'm scared that I can't be the Mom that this kid deserves, that _you_ deserve. I mean I'm supposd to just have this natural desire to have a kid and I just don't. I'm so terrified that I'm not going to be-"

"Hermione," he said, pulling her away far enough that he could look into her eyes, "You are going to be the _perfect _mother, but when _you're _ready. I'm not rushing you and I'm not leaving either. And yes I do want kids, but even if you never want to have them-"

"But I do-"

"Even if you don't, I would still love you just as much as I do right now."

Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him fiercely. "I love you."

"And I love you."

* * *

**Well let me know what you think. I know some of you might be disappointed that she's not pregnant, BUT don't fret, there are still many chapters to come (: **


	20. Chapter 20

**Hope you enjoy this longer chapter. And thanks for continuing to read, I love all your nice reviews (:**

* * *

Hermione and Ginny were sitting in Ginny's flat discussing a bachelorette party.

"I think it's a ridiculous idea." complained Hermione.

"But it'll be so lovely!"

"Right, and who exactly are you going to invite? The only people I hung out with that was a girl is you!"

Ginny rolled her eyes, "I'm sure _loads _of girls from Hogwarts would be thrilled to get asked to the bachelorette party of the famous war hero Hermione Granger." she countered.

"Ginny, we didn't have a bachelorette party when you and Harry got married."

"Well I wanted one, but y'know how my mum is."

Hermione sighed and took a sip of her tea, "And I suppose that you expect Harry and Ron to plan a bachelor party for him." Hermione almost went into a fit of giggles at the thought.

"Actually, yes."

Hermione almost spit out her coffee. "Are you insane Ginny? There is no bloody way that Draco is going to hangout with Harry and Ron, especially not without me there. Do you know what could happen? Someone could die!"

"Don't you think you're being a little over dramatic?" asked Ginny, sipping her tea gingerly.

"Over dramatic? You are aware that Draco almost killed Ron when he blew up at me at the Leakey Cauldron right? Ron still loves me, and Draco knows it. It's not exactly going to be the fun time he had planned-and that's if he even wanted to have a bachelor party in the first place."

"Oh come on Mione, just think of it. The boys hanging out, getting along-"

"Killing each other-"

"Drinking a little, doing whatever it is boys do." she said ignoring Hermione's attempt to interupt her. "While we girls go and have a little fun of our own."

"No way."

"At least think about it?" she pleaded.

Hermione took in a deep breath and closed her eyes, "Fine."

Ginny smiled triumphantly and poured herself some more tea.

"Have you guys talked about having kids yet?"

Hermione looked out the window to study the small backyard, perfect for a little kid to play in. "A little. We just think it'd be best to wait until everything's settled down a bit. You know? Wait until we're married."

Ginny nodded, "I totally get it. Trust me. I mean I don't know what I'd do if Harry and I weren't already married. Besides you've got enough on your plate as it is without adding another life to the list." she said patting her hand.

Hermione smiled, "Well that's enough about me. How've you been? Have you started setting up the baby room yet?"

At that Ginny groaned, "Merlin, Hermione I've been pestering him about it for the past week, but he insists that it'd turn out better if I did it. I mean I love the man, but sometimes he's so clueless."

"Well I'll help you." Hermione offered instantly.

"Oh Mione, you already have so much on your plate. It wouldn't be fair of me to ask you to help me with this as well."

"Don't worry about it. I can handle anything, remember?"

* * *

Hermione was being ushered around store to store by Narcissa, with Draco following closely behind. Narcissa had insisted that Hermione get a reception dress as well as the wedding dress, and since Hermione had gone and bought a dress that she refused to show either of them, she felt like she owed Narcissa.

So here she was, being pushed into dresses like a life sized Barbie Doll.

"Mother," said Draco as they entered what had to be the millionth store they'd been to that day. "Don't you think we've seen enough? I mean she doesn't even really need a reception dress."

Narcissa shot him a look, "You most certainly do need a reception dress. At my wedding I had three dress changes!"

"She's not you though."

"She deserves to be treated like a princess." countered Narcissa.

"And she's also standing right here." said Hermione, waving her hand in front of them.

Draco blushed a lovely shade of red and Narcissa cracked a nervous smile, "Well what would you like to happen dear?"

"I want both of you to be happy." she said slowly.

"And we want _you_to be happy. It is afterall, your day." said Narcissa.

Hermione sighed, "How about we make a deal then?"

Draco raised an eyebrow, motioning for her to continue, "If we don't find the dress in this store, I won't wear one."

Narciss seemed to think it over for a minute, but Draco answered immediately. "Deal." Anything to keep him from having to wait in another store for an hour.

"Fine, fine." said Narcissa, ushering Hermione into the last store.

She ordered Hermione and Draco to sit while she went about pulling dresses of racks.

Hermione sighed and leaned her head against Draco's shoulder and he wrapped an arm around her waist pulling her close.

"You're a real trooper." he whispered into her hair.

She giggled at the feeling and said, "It's easier with you here."

"I am pretty easy on the eyes aren't I?" he said with a cocky smirk.

She rolled her eyes, when he said things like that he reminded her of the Draco from their Hogwarts days.

"You're a cocky bastard, you know that right?" she asked, trying to supress a laugh.

He chuckled and tilted her chin up so their faces were inches apart, "You love it." he whispered.

She smiled, "Maybe."

He closed the distance between them and kissed her, stopping only when he heard his mother coming over to them. He groaned, but released her.

"Sorry to interupt," said Narcissa taking Hermione's hand, "But I have a few dresses."

Hermione almost apparated herself away when she saw what qualified as "a few" for Narcissa. She no doubt had at least ten dresses in her hand.

Dress after dress Hermione would walk out, spin around a few times for Narcissa and Draco, mumble something about it being either to short, too tight, too girly, to sparkly-anything to get her out of wearing some atrocious looking _scrap_ of clothing.

Narcissa sighed, "Fine Draco, you win."

Draco smiled, clearly pleased and Hermione was just happy to be done acting like Barbie.

"I always do." said Draco, wrapping his arm around Hermione.

Narcissa rolled her eyes and walked off, muttering something about rude sons.

* * *

"No way, under any circumstance, is that going to happen."

Hermione sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She knew this was going to happen. "I tried to tell Ginny that, but she insists that you all would have fun."

"Bloody hell, we would-"

"Kill each other. " she answered for him. "I know."

Draco buried his face in her neck and mumbled something she didn't understand.

"What?" she asked laughing.

He groaned and tilted his face slightly to the side so that his breath fanned across her collarbone. "I said that I could think of seven things I'd rather do."

She laughed and turned so that her feet were hanging off the edge of the couch and her head rested in Draco's lap.

"I miss this." she said after a while.

"What do you mean?" he asked, running his hands through her hair.

"Just being able to sit and talk like we did back at Hogwarts our last year."

Draco smiled softly and nodded, "I've missed it too."

"Everything was so much simpler back then. And that's saying something."

"It'll all be worth it in the end, when I get to call the most beautiful woman in the world my wife. To have and to hold, and not even death could do us part."

Hermione chuckled, "That's not how it goes."

"That's how I want it to go." he said quietly.

She laced her hands through his hair and pulled his lips to hers, "That's how I want it to go too."

He placed one hand on her stomach and kissed her back softly.

"I love you." he murmered against her lips, not wanting to pull all the way away.

She smiled, "I love you too."

"We should do this more often." he said, sitting back up and continuing his minstrations with her hair.

Even back at Hogwarts he'd been facinated by her hair. It was the complete embodiment of Hermione. Wild and crazy, yet unexplainably sexy. It was a perfect fit.

"We definitely should. I like it when you play with my hair."

Draco smiled when Hermione closed her eyes. A few minutes later he noticed her breathing become slow and steady.

He thought back to a specific night in Hogwarts that reminded him of this one, even though he and Hermione hadn't been dating yet.

_It was storming outside and Hermione couldn't sleep. She walked out into their shared common room and found Draco asleep with a book on his chest. She tentatively approached him and sat down on the opposite side of the couch. _

_At that moment a particularly loud boom of thunder caused her to jump. _

_Draco opened his eyes and looked at her, a slight smirk on his face. _

_"Uh-sorry I didn't mean to wake you it's just-"_

_She was cut off by a bolt of lighting quickly followed by a clap of thunder, causing her to almost jump out of her skin. _

_Draco was pretty surprised. He hadn't thought Granger would be afraid of something as natural and explainable as a little storm. _

_He studied her carefully for a moment, feeling his heart clench at her scared expression. He paused, contemplating the consequences of what he was about to do. _

_To hell with it. _

_He didn't say anything, just pulled her close to him. He felt her tense up, clearly caught off guard by his sudden action. _

_"Just relax." he said, chuckling slightly. "I don't bite, unless you're into that." he added with a wink._

_At that Hermione laughed and relaxed into him. "You're insufferable." _

_"Yet you're still here." _

_She nodded and leaned her head on his shoulder. "True." _

_They sat in silence for a few moments, Draco absentmindedly running his hand up and down her arm. _

_Hermione flinched when she heard another clap of thunder, causing Draco to cringe. For some reason seeing her like this made him want to comfort her. _

_"I'm sorry," she said quietly. _

_"A lot of people are scared of storms Granger." he said, attempting to make her feel better. _

_"But it's not rational. I am perfectly aware of the fact that storms are caused by-"_

_"Fears aren't rational. That's why they're called fears." he said interrupting her. _

_She nodded, "I know, but still."_

_Draco sighed, "I know how you feel." _

_His feelings for Hermione had grown substantially, and he was scared even though he knew the feeling was just the brain releasing endorphins. _

_He moved his hand to her waist slowly, hesitantly. He didn't know how she'd react. _

_Funny thing was, she didn't. She just rested a hand on his leg as she curled her feet up underneath her. _

_"You know," he said, a slow smirk forming on his face, "It usually helps to distract yourself."_

_"With what?" _

_Instead of responding he began tickling her. Hermione swatted at his hands, laughing. _

_"Oh Malfoy, stop it." she said between laughs. She attempted to get off the couch, but he caught her by the wai__st, pulling her so that she was almost sitting on his lap. _

_"Nice try." he whispered, his lips inches from hers._

_They both noticed the change in the air, but Hermione tried to fix the situation. _

_"Malfoy, I don't think-"_

_"You think all the time Granger, but for once, just go with it." _

_"Okay." she murmured. _

_Draco gently pressed his lips to hers. It was a quick kiss, but it said all that they needed to know. They both felt the connection between the two of them. It wa__s like a spark...a spark that started it all. _

_He kissed her again, lingering this time. _

_"Malfoy, is this really-"_

_"Yes, Hermione, this is what I want to be doing." _

_Her eyes widened at the sound of him using her first name for the first time. _

_Draco noticed it too, and figured he'd just go with it. He liked how it sounded. _

_"But-but-" _

_"Hermione," he said, placing a light kiss on her lips. _

_She sighed, but kept quiet, sliding down so her head rested in his lap. _

_After a few minutes Draco began running a hand through her hair, causing Hermione to make a soft content sound. _

_"You can sleep Hermione." _

_She stifled a yawn and smiled up at him, "Is calling me by my first name going to become a habit of yours?"_

_"Maybe, so what?" _

_"Then I guess I should start getting used to calling you Draco instead of Ferret." _

_He scowled playfully at her, and continued playing with her hair. _

_She drifted off into sleep, vaguely hearing him muttering, "Sexiest damn ferret that ever lived." _


	21. Chapter 21

******SIDE NOTE: THIS IS SET ABOUT A WEEK AND A HALF AFTER THE LAST CHAPTER******

* * *

"So Mrs. Parker, we've managed to find out what type of potion your daughter was exposed to."

"That's good right?"

Hermione tapped her pen against the chart and looked at Railynn. She had gotten significantly worse over the past two weeks.

"Yes and no." she started slowly.

"What does that mean?"

"Maybe we should talk outside."

Melissa stood and moved almost robotically to the door. Hermione sighed, it was always hard to try to make relatively bad news sound...well...not so bad.

"We do know what potion it was, the thing is...as of right now, there isn't an antidote to this particular potion."

Melissa's eyes went wide and Hermione didn't know whether she was going to need to cast a shielding spell or if she was going to need to comfort her.

In the end none of those happened. Melissa just stood there looking in through the small window at her sleeping daughter.

"What does that mean?" she asked quietly.

"It means that I've gotten together a specialized team of potion experts and we're working around the clock to _create_ a reversal potion."

Melissa shook her head, "No, that's not what I meant. I meant what does that mean for Railynn?"

Hermione hated having to answer questions like this, because she couldn't lie, and giving false hope was unethical.

"If we can't find a solution, she will most likely die in her sleep."

Melissa put a hand over her mouth and turned away from Hermione. Her shoulders shook as she tried to compose herself.

"Mrs. Parker we are going to everything in our power to make sure that Railynn get's to walk out of here." she said confidently.

Melissa just wiped at her eyes, "I'm going to go sit with her."

Hermione nodded and watched as she retreated back into the hospital room. With a sigh she headed to the lab. It was going to be a long one.

* * *

At around six Draco arrived at home, surprised that Hermione wasn't there. She was usually home at least an hour before he was.

He walked over to the phone and saw that someone had left a voicemail. He pressed play and then used a spell to amplify the sound so that he could walk into the kitchen.

_"I know you're not home yet, but it looks like I'm going to be at the hospital for a while. I'm down in the lab with the boys from the potions wing. Wish me luck."_

Draco sighed, Hermione had been working late for the past week, first in an attempt to find out what it was that was killing Railynn and now with how to reverse it.

He loved that she was so involved with her job, but it was starting to take its toll on her. She slept at the most three hours, would get home after he had gone to bed, and be gone before he woke up. She was running herself ragged, and he knew it.

He grabbed his jacket and pulled out his wand, he was going to go down to the Leakey Cauldron, give Hermione at the most another hour, and then he was going to bring her home, regardless of if she was kicking and screaming.

* * *

"Something just isn't adding up." said Hermione, barely restraining herself from throwing the entire lab bench into the wall.

"We've tried everything." said Jonathan, running a hand through his hair.

Tom nodded in agreement, but Hermione wasn't having it.

"This is our job. There is a cure for everything, so we clearly have other things to try."

"Like what?" asked Tom. "We've been here all day and we haven't gotten any closer. I'm calling this one, and it doesn't look good."

"In case you forgot, a little girls life is at stake, and I would surely hope that if Merlin forbid something happened to your little girl, she wouldn't have doctors who just gave up because things got hard." snapped Hermione.

Tom sighed and looked at the clock. It was seven. "One more hour Granger, then we go home and try again tomorrow."

Hermione nodded and turned back to her potions, starting again.

* * *

It was around eight when Draco decided to apparate up to St. Mungo's and get Hermione, who was no doubt still working in the lab.

He walked to her usual floor, but there weren't that many people still around. He stopped at the front desk and asked a young red headed lady, "Do you by any chance know where Hermione Granger is?"

"Oh, Dr. Granger is still down in the lab. Her, Jonathan, and Tom have been down there for hours." said the woman, not taking her eyes off the computer screen.

"Well could you get her up here?" he asked, slightly rritated.

"Well not exactly. I'm not allowed down there, and they don't like to be disturbed..."

"Well either you page her, or I go down there and really disturb them."

The red head sighed and picked up the phone, "Paging Dr. Granger to the third floor information desk, Dr. Granger to the third floor information desk."

She gave Draco a sour look and motioned for him to take a seat in one of the chairs while he waited. A few minutes later Hermione came walking down the hallway.

"Margret why did you-oh, Draco. What are you doing here?"

Draco stood and walked over to her, giving her a quick kiss. "I came to take you home."

"But-"

"But nothing. You've been working late everyday now. It'll still be there in the morning."

"Yeah, but Railynn might not be." she snapped.

Draco wasn't hearing it though. "It'll be fine. The boys are still down there."

Hermione sighed, but noticed how serious Draco was, how tired she was, and she really didn't feel up to an argument.

"Okay."

He led her out of the hospital and down into Diagon Alley. It had already started getting colder with winter fast approaching.

"Do you want to get a drink?" he asked as they neard the Leaky Cauldron.

She nodded, "I could definitely use one."

They walked inside and sat down at their usual table by the window and ordered two gasses of Fire Whiskey.

"You know what's crazy?" asked Hermione after a few minutes of comfortable silence.

"What?"

"We haven't heard anything from Lucius or Pansy or anybody else who was so against our relationship."

Draco laughed and nodded, "It's nice isn't it?"

"Very nice."

After they had finished their drinks they were about to leave when Pansy walked in.

She spotted Draco and Hermione, but quickly turned away and headed to the other end of the pub, refusing to look at them again.

"The bloody hell was that about?" muttered Draco as they left.

Hermione just shrugged her shoulders, "At least she didn't bother us."

Draco felt a little uneasy, but he pushed the thought out of his head. "Yeah, let's go home."

Hermione nodded and apparated them home.

* * *

** I wonder what Pansy's up to...**


	22. Chapter 22

**And it begins...**

* * *

Hermione, Jonathan, and Tom had a few potions that they believed could work, and Hermione was in a fabulous mood. She had administered the first round of potions to her an hour ago.

"You seem chipper." commented Julianna with a smile.

"Just hopeful is all."

A few minutes later an alarm went off inside Railynn's room and Hermione took off at a sprint down the hallway. She saw someone in a black cloak round the corner before she pushed open the door.

Railynn was having a siezure and a few nurses were already in the room administiring a muscle relaxant spell. Meanwhile Melissa stood in the corner of the room, her hand over her mouth.

Hermione walked over to her side and said a stronger version of the spell the nurses were trying and Railynn immediately stilled.

"Everyone out."

She closed the door behind the nurses and turnd to Melissa.

"What the bloody hell was that?" she asked, keeping her voice hushed.

"I...I'm not sure. It's not supposed to be a side effect of the potion. The purpose was to stop the seizures."

"Well it really looked like that worked out." she snapped.

Hermione ignored the comment, "Did you notice anything?" she asked, thinking back to the cloaked figure.

"I was asleep. I only woke up when I heard her."

Hermione sighed, "We're going to try a different round of potions just in case, but not until next week."

Melissa just nodded and walked over to take her daughters hand.

Hermione exused herself and walked down to the potions wing.

After she'd explained what had happened Jonathan and Tom both looked shocked.

"There is no way that potion should have had that reaction."

"I thought so." she said running a hand through her hair. None of this was adding up.

"Thanks guys." she said, heading to the security room to see if the mysterious cloaked figure was caught on camera.

* * *

The guys who dealt with security had told her that it would take a few days for them to be able to give her the video she needed.

There was nothing left for her to do at the hospital so Andrew had sent her home. Annoyed, Hermione decided to go visit Draco at work, hoping that he could fix her sour mood.

When she arrived on the seventh floor she walked past the lady at the desk like she usually did, except this time there was a new receptionist.

"Um ma'am do you have an appointment?"

"I don't need one I'm-"

"Yeah yeah, I hear it all day long. You don't need an appointment because you're someone special. Mr. Malfoy doesn't accept walk ins."

Hermione was about to explode when she heard Draco's door open. They both turned to look at him, and the snooty receptionist stood and shuffled over to him.

"I tried to tell her that you didn't accept-"

"MaryAlice this is my fiance Hermione." he said, offering Hermione his hand.

MaryAlice opened and closed her mouth, but no sound came out. Hermione gave her a smug look and followed Draco back into his office.

"What brings you here Love?" he asked, pulling her onto his lap.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head against his neck. "Railynn had another seizure, but nobody knows why. Even if the potion didn't work the boys from the lab said that she wouldn't have that reaction. It wasn't possible."

"It isn't your fault Hermione." he said quietly.

She sighed and tried to decide if she should tell Draco about who she saw walking around the corner in the hospital before she walked into Railynn's room.

"There was something else." she said slowly.

"What?" he asked, running a hand up her back.

She was about to tell him when there was a knock on his door. She sighed and slid off his lap and moved to the chair right beside his, and he reluctantly let her.

"Come in."

MaryAlice opened the door and stepped inside with a notepad.

Draco raised an eyebrow at her, "What is it MaryAlice?"

"You had a few important phone calls. They wanted me to make sure I told you right away."

Hermione rolled her eyes, seeing through her short skirt and low cut blouse in an instant. Aside from that it was hard to miss the breathy way she was talking to him.

Hermione decided she would have some fun. She slid her chair closer to his and rested her hand on his thigh, slowly trailing her fingers up and down, all the while never taking her eyes off of MaryAlice.

Draco could kill Hermione, but he was torn between enjoying the feeling and worrying about the embarassment that would come from him "releasing" himself in front of MaryAlice.

He placed his hand over hers in an attempt to stop her movements. Unluckily for him, she placed his hand on the desk and brought hers to rest on his thigh again, much higher this time.

MaryAlice continued reading off the voicemails, unaware of what inner turmoil Draco was going through less than twenty feet away.

Hermione ran her hand over the buldge that was starting to form in his pants. He clenched his teeth and tried to still his movements.

Meanwhile Hermione was throughly enjoying herself. She unzipped his pants and pulled him out, gripping him firmly.

He jumped at the contact and MaryAlice paused, looking at him slightly concerned, while Hermione began to pump her hand up and down.

"Are you alright Mr. Malfoy?"

He just nodded tersley and motioned for her to continue. She nodded and turned her attention back to her notepad.

Hermione ran her thumb over the head of his penis, capturing a drop of his precum, and causing him to shudder.

She smirked and continued to work her hand up and down his shaft, changing speed and pressure, which she knew would drive him crazy.

Draco was breathing heavily and clenching his teeth together. He didn't know how much more of this he could take.

"MaryAlice get out."

She looked up at him, confusion clear in her eyes. "Mr. Malfoy, what did I-"

"MaryAlice, out!" he snapped.

She shuffled out of the room and slammed the door, but Draco couldn't care less. He cast a locking spell on the door and a silencing spell on the room, and then picked Hermione up and put her on his desk.

"That wasn't very nice." he said, his voice velvet.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Yeah, well what are you going to do about it?"

A devlish smirk formed on his face and he stepped between her legs, placing his hands on either side of her on the desk.

"Is that a challenge?"

Hermione smiled, "If you want it to be."

All of a sudden he brought his lips to hers and began to claim her mouth with his. Their tongues dueled for dominance, Hermione quickly giving in to Draco.

He moved his hands to her hips and scooting her closer against his throbbing erection.

She moaned at the sudden contact, and wrapped her hands around his neck. He moved his lips down to her neck, placing soft kisses along her jaw and down her neck, stopping to nibble on her pulse point.

She ran her hands through the hair at the nape of his neck, causing him to moan. "Merlin, Hermione you should visit me at work more often."

She chuckled, "Maybe I will."

* * *

"So what were you trying to tell me earlier in the office before MaryAlice came in. Something about Railynn?"

After their little...fun, they had decided to go to the Leakey Cauldron and grab something to eat.

"Yeah, well maybe. I think I saw someone that might have been leaving Railynn's room, but I'm not sure. Whoever they were had on a long black cloak so I couldn't tell who they were, and they were pretty much around the corner by the time I got there."

Draco seemed to consider this for a moment. "A black cloak...I mean it is getting colder out. I'm sure plenty of people have one."

"Yeah, but who wears one inside?" she asked.

Draco considered that, "Well...I mean...it might not be anything, but have you talked to the security team?"

"Yeah, I did, but they can't let me see anything untill Tuesday."

"Well then check those, and when you see it's nothing you can move on." he said with a chuckle.

She rolled her eyes, "And what if I am right?"

"Well..."

"I mean there's no way that any of that should've happened."

"Hermione, potions are unpredictable. We both know that." he argued.

She sighed and nodded, "You're right, it's probably nothing."

Draco nodded and kissed her forehead. "You ready to head home?"

Hermione nodded and took his hand, following him out.

Right before Hermione apparated them home, Draco could have sworn he saw a hooded figure watching them, just past the glow of one of the street lamps.

He shook his head, Hermione was just making him paranoid. It was nothing. He'd had a long day, and was just tired. One good nights rest would have him right back to normal.

* * *

**Hope you guys enjoyed (: Any guesses on who's behind the cloak? Stay tuned. **


	23. Chapter 23

Hermione showed up to work on Tuesday and headed straight to the security room. She was surprised to see Jonathan and Tom already there.

"What's going on?"

"Someone altered the tapes using a spell."

Hermione's eyes went wide, "What? How the bloody hell is that possible?"

Jason, the head of security shook his head, studying the tapes and trying different spells, "I'm not sure...but whoever did it sure knew what they were doing. Nothing I've tried so far has worked."

Jonathan turned to her, "Do you know any reason someone would alter the tapes?"

Hermione shook her head, "I have no idea...but do you think this could have anything to do with Railynn's seizure?"

Tom and Jonathan looked to eachother, a worried expression crossing their faces, "As of right now it's looking like the only plausable solution, because there's no way we did the potion wrong."

Hermione ran a hand through her hair, immediately stressing out about Railynn's safety.

"We need to get guards outside her door incase whoever this was decides to pay her another visit."

Jason turned to his team and got two of his best guards to head down to her room.

"Do you think there's any way of recovering what was actually on the tapes?" asked Tom.

Jason shook his head, "Not unless you know someone who's good at the...shall we say...darker side of magic. We just don't have the knowledge on stuff like this."

That's when Hermione got an idea.

"I think I might know someone."

* * *

Melissa Parker stormed into Draco's office, clearly distraught.

"Mrs. Parker what's-"

"First they tell me my daughter has some kind of potion exposure that could kill her, then they tell me that they created a potion that could work, then it was said that the potion didn't give her the sezure she got shortly after the first dosage, and _now_ they're telling me that it's possible somebody tampered with the potion to make Railynn sick!" she exploded.

Draco was used to dealing with irate people, so he calmly told her to take a seat.

"How did they find out that someone could be messing with the potion?"

"Dr. Granger said that when they checked security tapes they found out someone had used magic to alter them."

Draco ran a hand through his hair. Hermione had been right. So that could also mean that he actually _had _seen that cloaked figure Friday night.

"Okay Mrs. Parker, start from the beginning."

After Melissa had told him all that Jonathan, Tom, and Hermione had told her, it still left Draco with a lot of blanks and too many questions. He would need to talk to Hermione sooner rather than later.

"Do you know anyone who might want to get revenge against you through Railynn? Your ex husband maybe?"

She shook her head. "Brian is an arse, but he wouldnt hurt his daughter."

Draco nodded, "Well I'm not exactly sure what it is that I can do."

"Maybe see if you can schedule an appointment sooner rather than later? Brian's going to hear about this and when he does it'll just give him more of a reason to take Railynn from me."

Draco nodded and picked up his phone, "Yes, I'm calling for Attorney Madeline Brighton. This is Draco Malfoy."

A few minutes later he had set up an appointment for Melissa on Thursday.

"Thank you so much Mr. Malfoy. You don't know how much I appreciate your help...and do tell Dr. Granger I'm sorry. I know she's doing the best she can."

With that she exited his room and headed back to the hospital, hopefully to find her daughter the way she left her, or better.

* * *

Hermione was pacing the living room floor waiting for Draco to get home. She had thought about asking Narcissa, but she didn't want to involve anyone else, and chances were Draco already knew about it since Melissa was his client.

She knew that if anyone would be able to find out how to reverse the tampering on the tapes, it'd be him.

Instead of walking through the door like she expected, he apparated right in front of her.

"Merlin! Draco you scared me!"

He chuckled lightly, "I'm sorry Love."

He gave her a quick kiss before he set his briefcase down.

"I actually wanted to talk to you about something kind of important, that's why I apparated."

Hermione raised an eyebrow, "That's funny, because I actually wanted to talk to you too."

"Oh, you go first."

"No, go ahead. I'm sure yours wont take as long."

Draco nodded and then stood up, pouring himself a glass of Fire Whiskey. "Want one?"

"Seems like I'm going to need it."

He handed her a glass and then sat down. "Melissa came by my office today."

"Well I guess that's going to save me some time in explaining." she said with a halfhearted chuckle. "What'd she say?"

Draco quickly ran through what Melissa had told him.

"Well that's the thing. Jason said that they don't know enough about dark magic to be able to figure out how to reverse whatever spell was used to change the tapes..."

Draco sighed, "So you want me to look at them."

Hermione felt bad for asking, but he was the only person she knew and trusted enough to do this.

"I'm sorry, but you're the only person-"

"I know Hermione." he said, moving to sit by her on the couch.

"I just don't want you to think-"

"Hermione," he said, turning her face to look at him, "Don't worry about it. I know you want to help Railynn, I do too."

"Speaking of Railynn, do you think her father could have been the one to mess with the tapes?" she asked.

"I asked Melissa that when she came in, but she said he wouldn't hurt Railynn."

"You're probably right. I mean who's father would do that?"

Draco didn't say anything, but he was very aware of the fact that his father would probably do something like that with him, but not everyone was as ruthless as the Malfoy's were.

"Well when did you want me to look at the tapes?"

"I can bring them to you at work whenever you want. Jason has to be there though. Protocol."

Draco nodded, "Of course. Maybe Wednesday?"

"Sure."

Draco was a little worried that he wouldn't be able to figure out how to fix the tapes, but even more worried at what would happen if he did figure it out. They had no idea who they were dealing with, but if everything was connected, Railynn wasn't the only one in danger.

* * *

"We have a wedding date!" chirped Narcissa from the doorway.

Hermione groaned and attempted to shut out the noise by covering her face with her pillow, but Narcissa wasn't having it.

She yanked the pillow off her face and the blankets off the bed. "Rise and shine dear."

"Mother, you should have let me wake her. She's going to be in a foul mood all day." Draco was only halfway kidding.

Hermione glared at Narcissa, but got up and walked into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. One of her biggest pet peeves was when people woke her up in the mornings. She already got up early, and if someone was waking her up before she was up, it was too early.

When she emerged from the bathroom she saw Draco sitting on the bed.

"Why is she here so early?"

He chuckled, taking in her wet hair and the towel she had wrapped around herself.

"I guess she needs us to go over a few things. She called last night and I knew you weren't working so I just took off and she decided to come."

She groaned and threw her towel at him, turning to put on her underwear and bra.

All of a sudden she felt two hands slide across her waist and she felt him whisper by her ear, "You're a little fiesty in the mornings."

"You know I hate people waking me up."

"I tried to get her to let me wake you." he said, placing soft kisses along her still damp shoulder.

"Oh whatever." she said playfully.

"I think we should just stay here." he said pulling her back against his chest.

"Draco, I _just_ took a shower. Besides your mother's waiting." she said smacking his hands off her and pulling on a pair of jeans and a red sweater.

"You're no fun."

"You didn't say that in your office." she said with a smirk.

Draco actually blushed, but tried to cover it up. "Oh shut up Granger."

She laughed, "What are you going to do when you can't call me Granger anymore?"

"Be the happiest man alive." he said pulling her in for a kiss.

"Are you guys going to take all day?" called Narcissa from the foyer downstairs.

"I guess we should go ahead and get this day over with huh?" he said taking her hand.

Hermione nodded, "One annoying wedding related task at a time."

* * *

**Stay tuned for Hermione and Draco's interesting wedding errands, and some insight on whoever's behind that cloak. (:**


	24. Chapter 24

**I just wanted to thank all you guys for your feedback, &reading your guys take on who did what is really interesting, I love it (: So thanks again, and enjoy!**

* * *

"Goodness you two act like it's rocket science to pick a cake flavor!"

Hermione, Draco, and Narcissa had spent the past forty-five minutes inside England's best wedding cake bakery trying different flavors.

"Well then you pick it mother." snapped Draco.

Hermione rolled her eyes, but stayed out of it. Choosing instead to focus on a mother attempting to get her three year old to sit down. Hermione chuckled at the sight, wondering if one day that would be her.

"Hermione!"

She turned her attention to Narcissa, "What?"

"Merlin, where were you at?"

"Just thinking." she said dismissively waving her hand.

Draco eyed her curiously, but Narcissa was too caught up with wedding planning to question her further. "Do you have a particular one you like? Since my son doesn't seem to be able to make up his mind."

"It's just a bloody cake Mother."

"Oh...uh...well whatever you-"

"Hermione, it's your wedding." said Narcissa.

"Well then you pick Draco." she said turning to him.

He rolled his eyes and pointed to one on the table, "That one."

"Since when do you like strawberry cake?" asked Narcissa raising an eyebrow.

He made a face and frowned, "I don't." So that plan had backfired.

"I've got it." said Hermione, returning with a small plate from the lady behind the counter. "Try it."

It was a chocolate carmel truffle style cake.

He tasted it and smiled, "That's the one."

"Finally." mumbled Narcissa, a smile on her face.

"Says the woman who spent an entire day shopping for a _reception_ dress." said Draco with a smirk.

"You are oh-so-funny my dear, just for that I think we'll go shop for what you'll be wearing to the wedding."

* * *

"How's it fair that you get to see me, but I don't get to see you until you're walking down the aisle?" said Draco from the dressing room.

"Because that's just the way it is." she said with a smile.

He rolled his eyes, but stepped out anyway.

"Oh my Draco you look simply dashing!" cooed Narcissa. "Speaking of that, why haven't I at least seen you in your wedding dress?"

But Hermione wasn't listening to her. Draco looked absolutely amazing, and it left her wondering, yet again, how she could possibly be lucky enough to call this man hers.

"I assume you like it Love?" he asked with that signature Slytherin smirk, only softer.

Hermione nodded, "You look amazng."

He smiled and gave her a kiss. "I'm glad."

"Well let's get you measured so everything will be ready for the wedding."

"When is the wedding Narcissa?" asked Hermione once Draco had gotten dressed again.

"Oh I didn't tell you?"

Draco noticed his mother was nervous. Merlin only knew when she set the wedding for.

"No, you didn't."

"Well...it's a month from now. December 16th."

"What?"

Hermione's mind was already spinning. She needed to run this by Andrew, had to make sure Railynn was healed by then, because if not their was no way she was going to feel comfortable leaving. Then she was sure Draco wanted to have their honeymoon right after they got married so she would have to get exta time off work for that. Merlin, she was going to do some serious arse kissing in order to pull that off. And some seriously good magic on Draco's part to figure out the tapes.

"Don't you think that's a little soon?" asked Draco, sensing Hermione's panic. He really couldn't care less if they got married in ten minutes wearing exactly what they had on. He just wanted to be able to call her his wife.

"No. Everything is already taken care of. Even the invitation were sent out two weeks ago."

Hermione just decided to go with it. "Alright, sure...a month from now."

It was about time for a vacation anyway.

* * *

"You're really taking me to _another_ dress shop?"

"Well Hermione needs to pick out the dress she wants Ginny to wear as her maid of honor."

"Well she kind of needs to be here." said Hermione.

All of a sudden she saw a short red head making her way towards them and she smiled.

"Ginny! I'm so glad you're here."

"Wouldn't miss it. Can't have you putting me in something that's gonna bring too much attention to the baby bump." she said laughing.

Hermione and Ginny wandered off to pick out a few dresses that would match the beach wedding and flatter Ginny, in both style and color. Hermione really wanted her to like it, so she pretty much left it up to her.

Meanwhile Draco and Narcissa sat on the couch waiting for Ginny and Hermione to come back.

"She really is lovely."

Draco smiled, "That's why I'm marrying her."

After a few moments Narcissa spoke again. "Have you heard anything from your father lately?"

"He wrote a letter saying he was going to be away for a while. Didn't really say much."

She nodded and sighed, "I figured as much. When I refused to let him inside he didn't even yell, he just left. I wonder if he's really taking what I said to heart."

Draco placed his hand over hers, "Even if he isn't, you'll be alright."

Narcissa smiled, utterly astounded at her son and how, even though he had been raised by two of the most evil and vicious people, he still managed to turn out to be an extraordinary young man.

"I'm very proud of you."

Just then Ginny stepped out in a shorter cut dress that sinched right below the bust with a light blue sating ribbon, and then flowed the rest of the way down in a darker blue tone, with small sparkles throughout the skirt.

"Oh don't you look lovely." said Narcissa standing up and walking over to her.

Hermione stood off to the side smiling.

"I think this is the one." said Ginny, turning to look at Hermione.

She nodded, "You look beautiful."

She walked over and gave her a hug. "I'm so happy for you. If anyone deserves all this it's you." she whispered, before letting her go.

Hermione smiled and led her back into the dressing room.

That took care of the last of the wedding plans, so all that was left to do, was wait.

* * *

Hermione had told her boss last week that she was getting married and would need time off, and to her surprise he had actually congratulated her and said that she deserved a break.

Even though Railynn was still in the hospital the new potion they'd started had done wonders for her, and she hadn't had a seizure in a few days.

Even though Draco still hadn't been able to figure out the tapes, although he'd came close several times, Hermione felt comfortable with having her wedding next week.

_Oh Merlin, I'm getting married. I'm getting married to Draco Malfoy in less than four days. _She thought to herself.

Hermione had taken her wedding dress to Narcissa's house, because she had insisted that Hermione and Ginny got ready there.

Hermione was currently looking through one of her cookbooks in the kitchen, leaning against the counter, when Draco walked behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"I was looking for you." he murmured sleepily into her neck.

Hermione had to force herself not to groan. She had refused to have sex with Draco the entire month, which was complete torture for him.

He tried, in every possible way, to get her to cave and give into her desires, but she wasn't having it.

"It'll be that much better on our wedding night when we do." she whispered, turning around to wrap her arms around his neck as his slid around to rest on the small of her back.

"Imagine how much better it would be now." he said, slowly tracing patterns on her back with his thumb.

She hummed at the feeling and leaned into him, pressing her lips to his gently.

"Merlin, I want you Hermione." he said, the hand he had on her waist tightening.

She closed her eyes and rested her head on his chest. "And in a few days you'll have me."

He chuckled, giving up. He would wait four more days if that's what she wanted. But he had to make her aware of one thing.

"I hope you're not planning of sleeping on our wedding night."

She looked up at him, his face plastered with that cocky Slytherin smirk he wore so well, and said, "I don't think you'd let me even if I wanted to."

At that he laughed, "Nope, I wouldn't."

* * *

**Sorry for just springing the wedding out of nowhere, BUT I really want them to get married already (: **


	25. Chapter 25

**I hate writers block /:**

* * *

"Narcissa calm down, everything is going to be fine."

Hermione had believed that she would be a ball of nerves on her wedding day, but it turns out that it was Narcissa who was nervously running around like a chicken with her head cut off.

"Are you sure you have everything? Are we ready?"

"Mrs. Malfoy, everything's going to be fine. I mean just look at Hermione. She's glowing." said Ginny, smiling at her best friend. tears in her eyes already.

Hermione had her hair pinned up with small blue crystal flowers, a few pieces out to frame her face, her dress was flawless, and she hardly had any makeup on.

"You really do look stunning dear. Draco's going to be speechless."

"I hope so." said Hermione with a smile.

"Well come on then, everybody gather around and let's get going."

* * *

"You look fit for a wedding."

Draco looked up at Harry who, along with Crabbe, Goyle, and Blaise, were his groomsmen.

"Thank you."

Draco stood and faced the four men, "I'm going to make this short, thank you all for coming, especially you Potter. We've had our differences, but you're not as awful as I assumed before." he said, cracking a smile.

Harry laughed, "You're not so bad yourself Malfoy."

"And thank you guys, for coming down here. Zabini, just because there's an open bar doesn't mean you should spend your entire evening there."

Blaise laughed, "Yeah, yeah, now let's get out there and get you married."

Draco took a deep breath and followed them out. This would be a day to remember.

* * *

The music began playing and Hermione took a deep breath. She took Ginny's arm and walked down the little makeshift aisle they had constructed on the beach.

As soon as Draco saw her he thought he was looking at an angel. He had seen Hermione looking gorgeous, but never had he seen her as beautiful as right now. And while everyone was looking at her, she was looking at him.

Ginny kissed her cheek before stepping to the left and taking her spot as maid of honor next to the rest of the bridesmaids Narcissa had someone talked into coming.

The ceremony went off without a hitch, up until the preacher said, "If there is anyone who objects to this union, please speak now, or forever hold your peace."

Just then Ron walked through the doors, with Lavender in tow. She smiled and said, "Whoops, sorry we're late."

Ron on the other hand looked like he wanted to disappear. Lavender took his hand and pulled him to one of the available seats.

Hermione just stared at Ron, who refused to so much as glance at her. Draco noticed and took her hand, raising an eyebrow. She nodded and turned to the preacher to continue.

"I now pronounce you, Mr. and Mrs. Draco Malfoy. Draco, you may now kiss the bride."

Everyone stood and clapped, Narcissa actually shed a few tears, and Ginny was trying, and failing, not to cry.

Hermione was smiling and looking to everyone else, especially Ginny, but Draco was looking at her. He couldn't believe how lucky he was to finally be calling her his wife. In the end, it everything they had gone through to get to that point had been worth it.

* * *

At the reception everyone was congratulating them, Blaise even came over and gave Hermione a hug. Suffice to say she had been thoroughly caught off guard.

"So how does it feel to finally be married Hermione? Hell frozen over yet?" asked Harry, giving her a hug.

She vaguely remembered a conversation the two of them had in sixth year when she swore she'd never get married, and if she ever, _ever_, did then hell would be freezing over.

She looked to Draco and smiled, "I suppose it has."

Draco pulled Hermione to him, kissing her softly and then lowering his head by her ear, "I got us a place right on the beach, completely reserved for us."

Hermione smiled, "That sounds lovely."

"Hermione," cooed a voice from behind her.

She turned and found Lavender and a very fidgety Ron beside her, "It was a beautiful wedding. You look stunning, and we are _so_ sorry for barging in like that, but we just got caught up in a few things."

Hermione would have liked to tell Lavender where to stick that whole bloody excuse, but this was her wedding, and she was in a good mood.

"It's not a problem at all." she said with a smile.

Lavender looked like she wanted to explode, but pasted a tense smile on her face as well and walked away with Ron in tow.

"Bloody git." she mumbled turning back to Draco.

He smiled and kissed her again, "You look stunning, Love."

"You don't look to bad yourself."

After everyone had eaten and the cake had been cut, the only thing left to do was listen to speeches a few people had prepared.

Harry stood up first, "Well I've known Draco and Hermione since our first year in Hogwarts, and although Draco and I had a few minor problems,"

At that everyone broke out into laughter, even Draco cracked a smile.

"But now, well hell, I'm one of the groomsmen at his wedding. I wish these two the best, and hopefully some kids along the way."

Everyone clapped and then Ginny stood, followed by Blaise, and then Narcissa. Draco and Hermione were about to leave when Ron stood, more like stumbled, to a standing position.

"I have something to say," he slurred.

"Oh no," groaned Hermione, already aware of exactly how bad this was going to get. Draco took her hand under the table and was willing to give him a shot of not messing it up too badly.

"If it gets to awful, we'll leave."

Hermione smiled at him and then turned her attention to Ron.

"Hermione and I have been best friends since first year. We decided to date before the war and I guess she decided she didn't want to work things out afterwards-"

Hermione stood up, "Ronald that is enough."

Ginny was attempting to pull him back into his seat, but he shrugged her off.

"What? You're _ashamed_ of walking away? Because you should be. I would have tried-"

"You cheated on me you idiotic arse!" she yelled, effectivily shutting him up. "So excuse me for not sticking around to listen to more of your lies. You're lucky I didn't kick your arse when you showed up to my wedding with the girl you cheated on me with. So before you try to blame everything on me, maybe you should remember what happened."

"Hermione I-"

She rolled her eyes, "You need to let me go Ron. Be with Lavender or don't, but do _not_ base your decision on me." With that she took Draco's hand and apparated them to Narcissa's house.

"Well that was interesting." he said with a chuckle.

She rolled her eyes and smiled, "Let's just get out of here."

Draco cast a spell to shrink the bags and then apparated them in front of the beach house.

"What do you think?"

"I love it." she said with a smile.

He scooped her up into his arms and carried her through the door.

"Oh Draco, put me down!" she said laughing.

He tossed her onto the bed and turned, taking of his jacekt.

Before he knew it Hermione had pushed him back against the wall and was kissing him fiercely.

He moaned into her mouth and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"I guess you just can't keep your hands off me huh?" he said with a smile.

"Just shut up and kiss me."

* * *

**I'm in a bit of a rut with this story, so the next chapter's basically going to be a lemon lol . Honeymoon fun (; **


	26. Chapter 26

**I'm really sorry about the delay with updating this chapter. I've been thinking of how I want to go about continuing it, and what I want to happen, along with what you guys want to happen. Like I said in my last chapter this is just one big lemon. (: Sooo without further ado, chapter twenty six. (:**

**P.S. I had a really cute new story up , buuut a Lemon hater wasn't a fan, so I took it down, but I'll see what I can do about it so that more of you can read it , if you'd like (: **

* * *

_A portion of your soul has been entwined with mine. A gentle kind of togetherness, while separate we stand. As two trees deeply rooted in separate plots of ground, while their topmost branches come together, forming a miracle of lace against the heavens._  
_~Janet Miles_

* * *

"Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?" asked Hermione.

She had woken up early and made breakfast for Draco, and in the process she noticed that the view from the kitchen was absolutely breathtaking.

The entire wall was made completely out of glass and showed a view of the beach and endless miles of ocean, disappearing into the horizon.

"I have, actually." he said, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind.

"Nope. It's not possible. This is absolutely the most gorgeous view ever." she argued, shaking her head.

He rested his forehead against her shoulder and placed a few kisses there, "Love, trust me," he said nipping at her skin softly, "I've seen you, in _every_ possible way. Nothing compares."

She smiled and turned in his arms to face him. "Oh, Malfoy, you smooth talker. I always did fall for your words."

"Because they were always true." he said, kissing her softly.

She laughed, "So in second year when you told me my hair looked like a-"

He clapped his hand over her mouth and tried to supress a smile, "Do not...bring that up."

"But you said-"

"Everything that was _nice_ that I said to you was true." he said rolling his eyes.

She smiled, "Everything I said to you was true."

"Even when you called me names?"

"_Especially _when I called you names. You were really mean to me back then, if you forgot." she said with a smirk.

"That's because I was a stupid kid. I always thought you were hot, even if I didn't admit it." he said leaning down and kissing her neck.

"You're very good at distracting me."

He chuckled into her neck and she smiled at the feeling. It was still hard for her to believe that they were married. Make no mistake, she was the happiest she'd ever been, but it was as if she was just waiting for the next problem to jump around the corner.

"What are you thinking about?" asked Draco.

She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts, and looked up at him, "Just thinking that I really want to go out onto the beach."

He smiled, "Does that mean I get to see you in a bikini?"

"Is what I'm wearing the only thing you're concerned about?" she laughed.

He gave her his signature smirk and said, "No, the only thing I'm concerned about is how long it's going to take me to get _off_ whatever it is that you're wearing."

"We're going to the beach. There is no way I'm having sex with you on a _public beach_." she said indignantly.

"Oh come on," he purred in her ear, "You know you want to."

She felt herself melting at his words, as she usually did, but she did still have _some _semblance of her old self left. "Draco, I most certainly do not."

"I know you, Love." he said, dropping his head to kiss her neck.

"What if someone sees us?" she was trying to keep her cool, but it turned out to be quite a bit harder than she had initially expected.

"We have this entire stretch of beach to ourselves. Who's gonna see?"

He sensed her hesitation, so he lightly bit down on her pulse point, causing her to gasp and slide her hands around his waist.

"Draco,"

"Hmm?" he hummed, placing light kisses along her collar bone.

"You're far too good at this."

"You love it." he said, pulling back to smirk at her.

She rolled her eyes and took that moment to slip around him and move to their bedroom.

"Running from me?" he asked following her.

Even though she could see his face, she knew he was smiling. "No, getting dressed."

She kept her back to him and pulled off her camisole and slid out of her shorts and panties. She reached for her bikini bottoms, but before she could grab her top Draco was behind her, his hands on her waist and his erection against her back.

"You're far too good at teasing me, Love." he whispered into her neck.

She rocked back into him, causing him to moan and pull her tighter against his chest.

"Payback." she mumbled.

He slid his hands up her smooth stomach to cup her breasts. She let out a soft moan at the feeling, but had other plans. She forced herself away from him and grabbed her bikini top, quickly tying it closed.

"Let's go to the beach."

She smiled brightly, but he looked as if he would throw her up against the wall and ravish her.

"That's not very nice." he said, his eyes still glazed with lust, like she knew hers were as well.

"I guess you're just going to have to deal with me being in control for once."

She smirked at him, and even thought he wouldn't admit it, it made him proud. "You can be in control all you want, I'd just rather you did it while you were on top of me."

She felt herself getting pulled back in by his silver eyes and quickly grabbed the sunscreen. "Let's go."

He followed her out, cursing her for being so attractive...and for the mere fact that he couldn't be mad at her.

She placed her towel down in the warm sand and lie down on her stomach. "Draco, could you do me a favor?"

He looked down at her, captivated by her emerald green bikini, and the way it made her look even more...delectable.

"What?"

"Rub some sunscreen on me?"

He could almost hear the smirk in her voice, but decided that if this was the only way he'd be able to get his hands on her, he'd take it.

He knelt down next to her and squirted some sunscreen into his hands, rubbing them together and then running them over her smooth back. He slowly began massaging her, enjoying the way she gave out soft, content little moans. He pulled the strings at her back and around her neck loose, so that her back was completely bare and he was able to give her a better massage.

He moved down to her lower back, increasing his pressure slightly. She moaned, louder this time, causing his pants to grow even tighter than they previously were.

He pulled down her bikini bottoms and tossed them into the sand next to them, before squirting more sunscreen onto his hands and massaging her bottom. He noticed that her breathing was shallow and she was trying not to arch into his touch.

He languidly moved down each leg, taking extra care to massage the insides of her thighs, before he told her to turn over. She did as he asked and kept her eyes closed, now on her back.

He rubbed more sunscreen onto his hands before slowly running down her stomach and around her breasts, without actually touching them. She groaned and tried to keep herself from moving too much. He massaged the front of her legs, and touching everywhere except where she wanted him most.

He slid his hands back up her stomach to massage her breasts, smiling at her already erect nipples. A soft gasp passed her lips, but she quickly closed her mouth again.

At that moment Draco decided that he wanted to make her scream. He knew that she hadn't exactly been thrilled about sex on a beach, but he knew her well enough that she would love it when it happened.

He slid one of his hands down to her core, while the other stayed and massaged her breast.

She bit her lip as he began to rub her clit in tight circles. Before he knew it she was panting, "I told you I didn't want to have sex on a beach."

He smirked down at her, noticing her eyes were open and watching him. "A little late to act like you don't want me now. Besides," he said, lowering his head to graze his lips against hers, "We haven't even gotten to the good part yet."

She bucked her hips into him when he inserted one long finger into her. "Oh Merlin," she moaned, done with trying to stifle her cries.

"Come for me, Hermione." he whispered, biting her neck.

His words threw her over the edge and her body was shaking as her orgasm claimed her. Once she had recovered he kissed her softly, "We don't have to if you don't want to."

"There is no way you just got me all hot and bothered on this beach to _not_ fuck me." she said, a small smirk playing over her features.

He grinned at his little lioness and slid out of his swim trunks. He positioned himself at her enterance and watched her face as he slid into her.

He started off at a slow pace, but sped up soon after as both of them longed for release.

"Oh Merlin...I'm-"

Draco felt her walls contract around him and that sent him over the edge with her.

They both lie panting for a few minutes before Draco found his voice, "I knew you wanted to."

* * *

**This was just something really quick to keep you satisfied until I had time to write an actual chapter with some substance. I really wanted to bring Railynn back into it, but I just didn't have the time while writing this chapter to make it as good as I wanted it to be. Hope you're not terribly upset with me! **

**Do let me know if you want to read the OS I had previously posted and removed featuring a broken Hermione that only Draco can heal. (: **

**Thanks for sticking with me! **


	27. Chapter 27

**So here goes a chapter with some substance lol, oh and rosescorpius4eva, I re-posted the story I took down, so if you get a chance you should read it and tell me what you think (: It's called How the Nightmares Ended. **

**Well here we go(:**

* * *

"What do you mean there was an attack?" Hermione asked, pacing the kitchen.

"Exactly that, there was an attack. We don't know who or how they slipped past the security wards and the guards, but they did."

"Is Railynn okay?"

Draco was sitting at the counter watching his wife carefully. It wasn't that he was upset St. Mungos had called her about the break in with Railynn, it was more the fact that he knew she would be extremely upset.

"She's fine, surprisingly enough who ever it was didn't harm her...the thing is Hermione..." Jonathan stumbled over his words, not sure how to proceed, but Hermione was past being nice.

"Spit it out."

"She knows who it is."

There was a pause and Hermione almost dropped the phone. Draco noticed her expression and stood slowly, not sure if he should go to her.

"Well who is it?"

"She won't tell us. Says the only one she'll talk to is you."

That time Hermione did drop the phone. The noise it made when it clattered to the ground broke her trance and she quickly picked it up again.

"Okay, I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Hermione, you don't have to cut your honeymoon short. We know you deserve a break. Besides, who ever it was didn't hurt her." he said softly.

"Are you forgetting what happened the _first _time. Who ever it was almost _killed her _Jonathan."

She didn't want to cut her honeymoon short, but as a doctor she had taken an oath to save lives, she couldn't just ignore that.

"But it's obvious that _now_ they're not going to hurt her. Stay, enjoy your vacation, and if you try to come back earlier I will send you back myself."

"But-"

"Not another word." he said, hanging up the phone.

She groaned in frustration and threw her phone across the room. Taking that as his cue Draco stood up and walked over to her.

"What happened?"

She sighed and relaxed into his welcoming embrace. "Railynn knows who was in her hospital room. I guess they came back and revealed themself to her, but the only person she's going to tell is me."

"Well let's go then." he said looking down at her.

She shook her head, "Jonathan told me if I tried to come he'd send me straight back here. Something about me deserving this vacation." she muttered.

He smirked down at her, "Well you do."

She sighed, "What if something happens to her?"

"Nothing's going to happen. You just have to relax."

She took a deep breath and he kissed her softly. "Just like that."

She was about to respond when her phone rang. She groaned, but went to retrieve it from where she'd thrown it.

"Hello?"

"Erm...hey."

It was Ron. Hermione knew Draco wouldn't be happy if he knew he was calling her.

"Hey...?"

There was an awkward pause before he said anything, "I was...um...just wondering how your honeymoon was going."

"Are you kidding me?" she asked, slightly ticked off that he wasn't calling to apologize for the scene he'd made at her wedding.

"Hermione I just wanted to be polite, you don't have to bite my head off about it." he snapped.

"Bite your head off? Are you kidding me? You are the most self absorbed arse I've ever met!"

"That's funny considering you married Malfoy."

"How _dare_ you bring him into this! Draco has absolutely nothing to do with your inability to _grow up_." she shouted.

By this point Draco was completely aware of who had his wife so utterly pissed off, and he wasn't happy about it. Not. One. Bit.

"Me grow up? You're the one who's living in this fantasy world that he actually loves you! He looks at you once and you just fall into his bed like we never happened. You know damn well that you're just a play thing to him before he get's you out of his system. Then what are you going to do? You're no better than Pansy."

For a second Hermione tried to calm herself, but quickly discarded the idea. Draco had rubbed off on her too much for her to just brush off Ron's insults.

"First of all, he _does _love me, more than you ever did, two I didn't just fall into his bed, and three if you ever refer to me as being like Pansy again I will hex your balls clear to the other side of the world."

Draco couldn't help but smirk at her comment, even though the fact that the Weasel said he didn't love her made him want to rip his teeth out.

Ron groaned, this hadn't exactly been how he'd wanted this to go. "Hermione I'm sorry, I just hate seeing you with someone who I know doesn't love you."

Before Hermione could tell him off Draco snatched the phone from her hand, his eyes ablaze, "Listen and listen good Weasley because I'm only going to say this once. I love Hermione more than anything else on this planet and if you ever, and I mean _ever_ say, or even _insinuate_ that I don't, I will make sure that you never say anything again. Got it?" he said, his voice a dangerous growl.

Ron stuttered before mumbling something along the lines of a yes and hanging up.

Meanwhile Hermione had slumped down on the floor by the couch, leaned her head back against the seat and closed her eyes. Her attempts at trying to calm her breathing were failing miserably and she could quickly sense that anxious feeling creeping up to strangle her as it had so many times back at Hogwarts right after the war.

Draco tossed her phone onto the counter and walked over, kneeling in front of her, "Hermione," he said attempting to get her to look at him.

She didn't want to admit it, but Ron's words had struck a cord. It wasn't that she thought she was like Pansy. It wasn't that she thought she just fell into Malfoy's bed. And it wasn't that she thought he didn't love her. It was the mere fact that Ron knew her insecurities with Draco and was always prodding her.

"Hermione, please look at me." he whispered, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

She opened her eyes and looked at her amazing husband. He looked striking, from his platinum blonde hair, to his mercurial eyes, all the way down to the way he carried himself. Everything about him pulled her in, and she still found it terribly difficult to understand what exactly he saw in her.

"You know I love you." He had meant it as a statement, but how it had come out sounded more like a question.

"Of course. And I love you too."

"Then why are you making that face." he said, studying her carefully.

"He just knows how to push my buttons. He was my best friend Draco. I told him everything."

"What do you mean?"

"Back at Hogwarts when you first started...paying attention to me after that night in the library I didn't really think you meant anything you said. After we started dating and Ron and Harry seemed less bothered by it I confided in them. I had told Ron that I didn't think you really cared about me. I thought that you just needed to get me out of your system before you came to your senses."

Draco was shocked. He never knew that she thought his feelings for her were fake.

"How could you think that?" he asked, noticeably upset.

"How could expect me not to think that? You spent the first six years you'd known me making my life hell. What was I supposed to think?" she shouted, her own anger bubbling over.

He sighed, she was right. How could he _possibly _assume that he could just change overnight and her to just go with it. "But it worked out for the best right?" he asked, his own insecurities coming out.

Her eyes instantly softened and she pulled him into a hug, "Of course. You are the very best thing that has ever happened to me. I don't know what I'd do without you." she whispered the last part into his neck and he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her to straddle his outstretched legs.

"I love you." he said softly. "Always."

She smiled up at him and pressed her lips to his, "And I love you. Always."

"So what do you say we enjoy the rest of this vacation?" he asked, a mischievous smile playing across his features.

"What did you have in mind?"

"Let your imagination run wild, Love."

* * *

**Well, there we have it, chapter twenty seven. Hopefully it's okay, I tried to put something about Railynn in there just to let you guys know I haven't forgotten about her. (: **

**It'd also mean a lot to me if you guys checked out a one shot I wrote earlier called How the Nightmares Ended. (: Thanks so much for the nice reviews guys!**


	28. Chapter 28

**I'm currently working on a one shot (I know I know I should be writing here, but sometimes the plot bunny comes with other ideas) so that might be why it's taking me so long to update this story. Plus homework. And finals. And work...Oh well enough of that, here's chapter 28, enjoy.**

* * *

"Oh, Dr. Granger, it's good to have you back! We've all missed you."

Draco and Hermione had gotten back from their honeymoon the day before and Hermione had insisted she come into work right away to speak with Railynn.

Plus she really did miss the little girl.

She knocked twice on the door and then entered, pleasantly surprised to find her looking much healthier than she had when Hermione first left.

"Dr. Granger!" she said with a smile, pulling Hermione into a hug with more strength than she would have assumed a small girl like her would have. She smiled and hugged her back nonetheless, happy to see her as well.

"So how are you feeling?"

"I'm good. The doctors say I'm doing better too. I might even get to go home soon." she said with a smile.

"Well Jonathan told me that you know who came into your room before. Do you think you could tell me?"

The little girl glanced at her mother, and Hermione instantly knew what she had to do. "Miss Parker, do you mind waiting outside while I have a word with your daughter?"

She nodded stiffly and stood, kissing Railynn on the cheek before exiting the room.

"You have to promise that you won't let him take me."

"Who's he?"

"He'll be really mad that I told you. He'll find out and he'll hurt mommy. Or he'll have the lady with the brown hair come and do it for him." she said, her eyes wide.

"Who's he, Railynn, and what girl?" asked Hermione, trying to see if she could figure it out.

"The girl is around your age. She has brown hair, and she's real pretty. Reminds me of those rich wizards we see in the news all the time."

"And who's he? The man you think might hurt your mom."

"I don't think he will, I know it. He told me so." she said, shaking her head.

"Well how do you know him?"

"It was my daddy."

* * *

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure! She told me!"

Hermione had immediately went and told her boss Andrew, and he had called Jonathan, Tom, and Draco down to his office.

"What are you doing here?" she asked Draco.

"Your boss called me down here. Something about Melissa Parker."

"Ah, Mr. Malfoy, I'm glad you made it." said Andrew, shaking his hand. "Why don't you both come in and sit down."

Draco and Hermione followed him into his office and sat down next to Tom and Jonathan.

"So Dr. Granger, why don't you explain to me exactly what Railynn told you."

Hermione ran a hand through her hair and said, "She said her dad was the one who came into her room, but she also mentioned a lady with brown hair."

"A lady with brown hair?"

Hermione nodded, "She said that either her dad would hurt her mom, or he'd have the lady with the brown hair do it."

"Well do any of you know lady's with brown hair who might want to either hurt you, or hurt Railynn?"

"I don't think any of us know Railynn or Melissa enough to know who'd want to hurt them aside from the husband." said Tom.

"And I don't know about you guys, but I don't have anyone who'd want to hurt me." said Jonathan.

Tom and Andrew nodded in agreement, but Draco got paler.

"What about Pansy?"

Hermione shook her head, "No way. What does she have to do with Railynn? Why would she care? I mean she's mean, but heartless? I don't know..."

"Who is this Pansy woman?" asked Andrew, picking up a pen and scribbling things down in a notepad.

"Pansy's one of Draco's old friends from Hogwarts. She recently held even more animosity than usual towards me, ever since she found out Draco and I were getting married."

"Well have either one of you heard anything from her since the wedding?"

They both shook their heads.

"Do you think that it's possible she'd be helping Mr. Parker get his custody of his child to interfere with both of you?" asked Jonathan, following Andrew's train of thought.

"Well I don't really see how that's really affecting us." said Draco.

"Well if Mr. Parker got custody of Railynn then I'm sure that wouldn't look to good for you and your company Mr. Malfoy, and as far as you Dr. Granger, if Railyn had died, it would've been on your watch. There are plenty of ways this case could affect the both of you. It only makes sense that we check this out." explained Andrew.

Draco noticed that Hermione had gotten a bit pale. "I can't believe she'd really go that far."

"Well we're not sure of anything, but we are going to check it out."

Hermione nodded and Andrew dismissed them all, but before Hermione walked out of the office he called her back.

"Why don't you take the day off? And be careful okay? I don't want anything to happen to you. You're my best doctor." he added with a smile.

She thanked him and left the hospital with Draco.

* * *

It had been a few weeks and since then Hermione, Tom, and Jonathan had all been put on a temporary leave from work, and Draco had decided to to stay home and keep her company.

"How about I make you dinner tonight?" he asked, sitting down next to her on the couch.

She put her book down and smiled at him, "Sure, whatd you have in mind?"

"It'll be a surprise."

She crawled over to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "You're too good to me."

"You deserve the best." he said pulling her onto his lap and kissing her.

She twisted her hands in his silky hair and smiled into the kiss. "I definitely have that with you."

"I know." he said with a smirk.

"Still a cocky Slytherin." she said with a smile.

"You love that about me."

In reality Hermione really did love that about him. Confidence was a major turn on, and part of the reason she'd fallen in love with him in the first place.

"When are you going to start dinner?"

"In maybe an hour, why?"

She smiled and leaned forward, whispering in his ear, "Well, I was feeling a little dirty."

He groaned and apparated them upstairs into their bathroom. He flicked his wrist and the shower turned on, while he pulled Hermione in for a smoldering kiss.

"You'll be the death of me woman." he said as she slid his shirt off and kissed her way down his chest to his belt buckle.

"But it'd be the best way to go." he groaned as she took him into her sinfully sweet mouth.

* * *

"You really are an amazing cook." said Hermione as they sat down to eat.

"Thank you Love."

"I mean, how do you keep coming up with things to make?"

"I'm just that good." he answered with a smirk.

"Oh whatever. It's still not as good as my baking."

At that he raised an eyebrow and flicked his wand, causing a chocolate cake to float into the room and land on the table.

Hermione cut Draco a piece and then herself one. Draco watched her while she took a bite of the cake, and took immense pleasure in the face she made.

"Wow...this is really good."

"I know."

"Wait a minute," she said, squinting her eyes at him, "This is _my_ recipe!"

Draco smiled sheepishly and shrugged, "Why change a good thing?"

At that she laughed, "You really do need to teach me how to make this pasta, it's incredible."

"Believe it or not, one of the house elves back at the Manor taught me when I was younger."

"Well I guess I owe him a big thank you."

When they had cleaned up the dishes they went upstairs to bed to watch some romantic comedy movie that Hermione had wanted to see.

"This movie sucks, Mione." he said halfway through the movie.

"Oh come on, you can't tell me this isn't completely sweet."

"It's unrealistic for a guy to be _that_ nice."

"You're that nice." she said with a smug smile.

"Well I, my dear, am the exception to that."

She laughed, "I suppose you are."

When the movie ended Draco noticed Hermione had already fallen asleep. He chuckled and pulled the covers up around them, and placed a soft kiss on her lips before drifting off to sleep himself.

* * *

**Well there we have it, another chapter. Review and tell me what you think. (: What do you want to happen next/what would you like to see happen? **


	29. Chapter 29

**So this is where things are starting to happen... And if you read my story, Under the Mistletoe, I have decided to write a sequel-esque type thing, so keep your eyes peeled for that sometime soon. **

* * *

"What do you mean he got custody of Railynn?"

Hermoine was about to explode. How could _anybody_ give Brian custody of Railynn after what she'd told her a few weeks ago.

"He was granted temporary custody while they try to figure out what's going on with Railynn." explained Andrew.

"Well now that he has her, of course nothings going to happen! He was the one doing everything!"

"Hermione, look, I don't like this any more than you do, but there's nothing we can do." said Andrew. "And until this case is completely closed, I think it'd be best for you to stay home and-"

"Stay home? Are you kidding me? I haven't been to work in _weeks_."

Draco looked up from his papers and studied Hermione, wondering what happened to make her so upset.

"It's for your own safety Hermione. We need to make sure that this isn't really Pansy trying to get back at you and Draco. From the looks of things it seems as though she has enough motive. I just don't want this to come back and implicate you in any way."

She sighed and ran a hand through her hair, "Have you guys found out anything?"

"I've had a few security members keeping an eye on her, and for the most part she seems to be sticking to herself."

"Most part?"

"Well there were a few things that we found a bit odd."

Andrew explained that she'd been seen leaving her house at odd hours in a black cloak similar to what Hermione had described seeing and meeting up with someone they had yet to be able to identify.

"So it really could be her...but _why_? What does she even benefit from working with Brian?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out. So just give us some time, okay?"

She sighed, "Alright...call me back with any news okay? And if something happens with Railynn."

"Of course."

She hung up and tossed her phone onto the counter, letting out a frustrated groan.

"What's wrong?" Asked Draco, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind.

She told him what Andrew had told her and he tensed.

"If this is Pansy trying to mess with you I'm going to kill her."

She turned around and wrapped her arms around his neck, "It'll be okay Draco."

He pressed a light kiss to her lips, but he didn't seem at all happy. "I just don't want anything to happen to you, Love."

"Nothing's going to happen to me. Andrew's not even letting me come back in until this gets settled."

"Good," he said, a smile crossing his face.

She rolled her eyes, "I'm _bored_ Draco. There's nothing to do with my day. I mean I can only clean and bake so much."

He smirked and said, "Well I could think of a few things you could do."

"You're working. I don't wanna disturb you. It's already hard enough for you since you decided to work from home."

"Well there's no way I'm gonna let you stay home alone with everything that's been going on." he said, his hands tightening on her hips.

"And I appreciate that, but I feel like I'm just like a-"

"I would do anything for you, you know that." he said leaning his forehead against hers. "And I _love_ doing things for you."

She smiled and hugged him tighter, "You should get back to work."

"There's always later." he said, lifting her onto the counter. "Besides, I need a distraction."

"Well what kind of distraction were you looking for?"

He smirked and ran his hands down her sides, "Well-"

"Hermione?"

"What the hell?" Hermione and Draco both grabbed their wands and walked into the living room to find none other than Ron.

"Ron? What are you doing here?" asked Hermione, tossing her wand onto the couch.

"I...well...I have to talk to you."

Draco stood further back, leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed.

"Talk to me about what?"

Ron was a nervous wreck. He would sit down for two seconds only to jump right back up and start pacing the floor.

"Ron, what's going on?"

"It's Lavender."

"Lavender?"

"Well it's not really Lavender so much as what Pansy asked her to do."

At that Hermione and Draco both sprang to attention, "What did she ask her to do?"

"Merlin, I shouldn't even be here." he said, raking a hand through his hair.

"Ron, please. What did she ask her to do?"

"Pansy found out about your case with Railynn and the whole deal with Melissa and her husband Brian, and she thought that maybe she'd be able to start a little drama for you at work. She asked Lavender to go to the hospital dressed in a black cloak as a prank to scare you, but then it started getting more serious. She started asking Lavender to watch where you guys were and after a while Lavender said she didn't want to do it anymore, but by that point Pansy had already told Brian about her."

"Wait a second, so it was Lavender who was in Railynn's room? So she's the one who messed with the potion."

"She swears she doesn't know what happened. She would never hurt anybody, especially not a little girl." he said shaking his head.

"So what's Brian's motive behind all this?"

"I don't know. Pansy never really told Lavender much of anything, but she thinks Pansy's starting to go to extremes."

"What? Why? Brian got custody of Railynn. Andrew just told me." said Hermione, trying to digest all this information.

"I mean it's pretty obvious that she didn't do all this just to help Brian, so maybe it has something to do with her motives." said Draco, moving forward to stand by Hermione.

"I don't know, but I just have a bad feeling about this. Something's just not adding up. I mean have you considered maybe she's working with Lucius? I mean he never seemed too fond of you." said Ron.

Hermione didn't know what to think at this point.

Draco shrugged, "I wouldn't be surprised, and I wouldn't put it past him either."

"I just wanted to let you know."

"Do you think she could ask Lavender to do something extreme?" asked Draco, his eyes on Hermione.

Ron shook his head, "I honestly don't know. I mean Pansy's never been a nice person, but why would she do all this, and for _what_?"

Hermione dropped her head into her hands and was muttering something under her breath.

"I have to go." said Ron, looking between the two of them, "I just wanted to let you guys know."

Hermione looked up and forced a smile, "I really appreciate it Ron."

He nodded and pulled his wand out, but not before walking a little closer to Draco so that Hermione wouldn't hear him.

"You know Pansy better than I do, so if you have even the slightest feeling that she'd do something to hurt Hermione, you need to make sure that you look out for her."

"I don't need you to tell me how to take care of my wife."

Ron looked like he wanted to say something, but decided against it, instead just apparating away.

Draco ran a hand through his hair and joined Hermione on the couch, pulling her towards him.

"Do you really think Pansy would have Lavender do her dirty work for her?"

"More importantly, who is Pansy working with aside from Brian, because there's no way he'd care about your job in the first place." said Draco, running a hand up and down her arm.

"Well do you think it could be Lucius? I mean it's not like we've heard from him in a while." she asked, turning to look at him.

"I mean it's possible...but I don't know. Something just seems wrong with Ron's story."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. Maybe this situation is just making me paranoid."

She smiled and kissed his cheek, "Everything will be fine."

"I just don't want you to get hurt."

"I _won't_."

He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. He was really worried about her. Now that he could finally call her all his, he was worried that something would happen, or that Pansy would go to more extremes, but he never thought she'd stoop this low.

"I should call Andrew and let him know what just happened." she said.

"Maybe we should wait a little bit." said Draco, pulling her back down onto his lap.

"What, why?"

"Because we have no way of knowing if what he was saying is accurate."

"Well how are we supposed to figure that out if we don't tell him?" she asked.

"I'm going to go see if my mother knows anything." he said running his hand through her hair.

"Are you sure you want to get her involved in all this?"

"No, but I don't want to be caught off guard with anything, so it doesn't really look like we have another option. Especially since my dad dropped off the face of the earth."

"And even if he hadn't, I doubt he'd be of much help."

Draco nodded in agreement. "The important thing is that you stay safe and I'll try to figure out if I can get the Court to over rule the motion for Brian to have custody of Railynn."

"Melrin, how must she feel right now." she said shaking her head sadly. "I mean Railynn is everything to her and now Brian just took her away. I mean that's insane. Especially since none of this was her fault."

"I guess bad things really do happen to good people." said Draco.

She sighed and nodded in agreement, "It's just not fair. I should stop by and see how she's doing."

"I thought Andrew didn't want you anywhere near that whole situation?"

"Draco, come on. What harm could it do? It's not even like I'm still on her case. I would just be going as a friend."

"You know as well as I do that he wouldn't like that." he said with a small smirk.

"Then we just won't tell him." she said with a wink.

He pulled her close and kissed her, "I love you."

She laughed, "I love you too."

She moved to straddle him and he looked up at her, eyebrow raised.

"I do believe we started something earlier that we didn't get to finish."

He smiled and pulled her into another kiss.

"You're something else Hermione."

"And you love it." she said kissing his neck.

"Merlin, you know I do."


	30. Chapter 30

**_Just a warning for this chapter, it's darker than anything I've ever written, so this is kind of like my WARNING DO NOT READ IF...type thing. There is torture, though nothing too graphic because I'm not into that, but more...dark than anything I've done before...so here we go. _**

******We tried to warn her...**

* * *

"Come on Draco. We're supposed to be there by now."

Hermione was standing in front of the fireplace waiting for Draco. She had finally convinced him to go visit Melissa with her, since he wouldn't let her go by herself.

"Calm down, I'm coming." he came down the stairs and picked up his wand from the coffee table.

He paused on his way over to the fireplace, and just looked at her.

"What?"

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked.

"Of course. Nothing's going to happen, and when you realize that you'll feel silly for making such a fuss over this." she said, shaking her head with a smile.

He sighed and walked over to her, grabbing a handful of the floo powder and stepping through with Hermione.

They didn't hear the phone ringing, nor the frantic voice of Jonathan on their answering machine, trying to warn them of the inevitable.

* * *

"Hello Mr. Malfoy, Dr. Granger."

Melissa was sitting in her living room motioning for them to have a seat.

"How've you been?" asked Hermione.

Melissa shrugged and looked out the window, "My lawyer told me that she spoke with Brian's lawyer. They've set up another hearing to try to give me custody back or at least grant me the ability to go see her."

"I'm sure you'll get her back Mrs. Parker. Draco only hires the best lawyers."

"I don't doubt that." said Melissa, a stiff smile on her face. "I just don't understand how they couldn't see that this wasn't my fault. I left Railynn in the care of a _trusted_ babysitter, I left her in the best wizarding hospital there is with the best doctor around-" her voice broke and she shook her head, turning away.

Hermione moved and sat on the couch next to her and took her hands in hers. "Everything's going to be alright Mrs. Parker. You're going to get custody back, Railynn's going to be fine-we're going to figure this out. And if you ever need anything our door is always open."

At that Melissa started crying even harder, mumbling something that neither Draco nor Hermione could understand.

"Melissa, what are you saying?" asked Draco, kneeling in front of her.

She looked up and met his gaze, nothing but fear and guilt in hers, and said, "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry."

Before Draco could ask her what she meant by that, someone had apparated into the living room with them. They turned around and who they saw was probably the last person they had ever expected to see.

"Mother?"

* * *

"Hello dear." said Narcissa, a satisfied smirk on her face.

Melissa tensed up and gripped Hermione's hands harder.

"What are you doing here? How do you even know Melissa?" asked Draco standing up.

Instead of answering his question Narcissa turned to Melissa and said, "You've done a good job here Melissa. For a second there I thought you weren't going to be able to pull it off."

Hermione's eyes widened and she looked from Draco to his mother and asked, "Pull what off?"

"This lovely plan of mine."

Melissa stood up and scurried from the room, shame, guilt, and sadness following her out.

"Mother, what are you talking about?" Draco had moved to stand in front of Hermione, trying to determine if his mother had completely lost her mind or not.

She sighed impatiently, like she was dealing with a child who just wouldn't understand the simplest thing. "I'm talking about this. Railynn, Pansy, Brian, Lavender, you, Hermione-you were all a part of this, and everything went just as I expected it to."

At the look of confusion on Draco's face, she laughed, but it was a humorless sound. "Did you really think I was going to be okay with you marrying a muggle? After all we've been through, all we've taught you? Like I said in that letter, years of bigotry aren't exactly easy to dispel."

At that Draco and Hermione paled, "What do you mean the letter? I thought that was from Lucius?"

"Oh no, dear. That was most definitely from me."

"But why?" asked Hermione, completely confused. Narcissa had been her friend, her second mother, her _wedding planner_ for Merlin's sake.

"Because I had to make sure that you thought Lucius had left of his own free will. The funny part is, he was never against the wedding because of your Mudblood status, he was against it because he knew exactly what I had planned. He tried to get you to call off the engagement, Merlin did he ever. But the two of you were just too stubborn to listen."

Hermione could almost feel the anger radiating off Draco, but she couldn't get herself to feel anything past betrayal. This had been the woman who she'd spent a lot of her time with.

"You of all people...I would have expected this from father, but from you? You didn't change at all after the war."

"You watch your mouth." snapped Narcissa, flicking her wand and sending him against the wall, invisible ropes binding him there.

Hermione's eyes went wide and she started backing up, but tripped when her foot caught the edge of the coffee table.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, my little Hermione. I know how you must feel. Hurt, confused, betrayed. But you know the upside is, you won't have to worry about it for too much longer.

All of a sudden the three of them were all in the Manor. More specifically the room where Bellatrix had carved the word Mudblood into Hermione's arm.

"Back to where it all started." cooed Narcissa spinning around in a circle and then facing Hermione again. "Doesn't this just bring back memories?"

"You bitch." whispered Hermione, walking backwards until her back hit the wall.

"You better not hurt her or so help me mother I'll-"

"You'll what?" she asked, a smile on her face, "You don't seem to be in any position to stop me from doing anything."

Narcissa was pacing in front of Hermione, humming under her breath. It seemed to Hermione that she was trying to figure out what exactly it was that she was going to do, meanwhile she was just trying not to have a panic attack at the memories flashing through her mind.

Suddenly Narcissa flicked her wand and Hermione was thrown against the wall just out of Draco's reach. She winced as her head hit the stone wall, and the breath was knocked out of her.

"Mother, stop it." said Draco, his voice pleading.

"You should have just listened to what we taught you since you were young. Her..._kind_ are below us. This is something you've known all your life and you just decide to throw it all away. How _selfish_ of you." she said, her anger boiling the more she talked.

"They're not below us, and she's certainly not below us. She's the brightest witch anyone has ever seen and you dare stand there and tell her she's _below_ you? If anything she's a few steps above you." he spat.

She smacked him across the face, leaving a red handprint on his cheek. "You'd do well to watch your mouth when you speak to me. I'm still your mother."

"I don't get it." said Hermione quietly, her eyes closed. "Why'd you pretend to like me? Why'd you offer to plan the wedding? Why'd you get so involved in this entire relationship if you just wanted me gone?"

She barked out a laugh and said, "Because I knew that no matter what we told you or Draco, you'd never leave him. You'd never give up, so I had to come up with a different option. If you thought I was your friend, if you felt like you could trust me, it'd be easy to get to you."

"So then why involve Pansy, Railynn, Brian-any of them?"

"Because this turned out to be a little more difficult than I'd first expected. I started talking to Pansy to see if she could try to find out information that I'd be able to use, she was more than happy to comply, and that's when she came across Mrs. Parker's case. Oh Merlin it was perfect, and so, so _easy._ I told Pansy to get close to Brian, offer that she could get him custody of Railynn if he did a few things for us. Then I told her to do whatever it took to get Lavender to go into the hospital room with a cloak to build your suspicions without drawing any attention to myself. Then I told Melissa that I'd get her custody back if she was willing to help me get to you. It all worked out perfectly."

"So now what?" asked Hermione.

"Now? Now I get to have fun. And in the room where my sister met her demise no less. I think it's all very poetic, don't you?"

"Mother, please don't do this." begged Draco.'

"I do believe I've heard enough out of you." she pointed her wand and said, _"Silencio,"_

"And now for you." she said with a wicked smile. "How about we take it back to that night, hmm? Make it seem more real."

She flicked her wrist and Hermione was bound to the floor in the same position she'd been when Bellatrix had used Crucio on her.

"Narcissa please don't-" but her words were caught off by her scream.

"Oh how I love the effects of Crucio," said Narcissa.

Hermione gritted her teeth and tried to breathe, but Narcissa didn't waist too much time switching between spells, from Crucio to Sectumsempra.

Before Narcissa could flick her wrist and inflict yet another set of cuts on her, she was sent flying backwards. Hermione turned her head and saw Draco and Lucius running towards her. The bindings on her wrists disappeared and she tried to sit up, but Draco was at her side pushing her back down.

"Just stay there, Love. Don't move. Everything's going to be fine." he was speaking so fast and was almost too frantic for Hermione to even understand, but after a while she found that it was becoming harder and harder to keep her eyes open, harder and harder to care about the words he was mumbling above her.

_Maybe I'll just close my eyes for a minute or two..._

Meanwhile Lucius and Narcissa were flinging spells at each other left and right.

"You'd better get her out of here Draco. She's going to need some serious medical attention." called Lucius over his shoulder.

Narcissa's eyes blazed and she screamed, "No, no, no! You're not going anywhere. Not with her. You'll ruin everything!"

Lucius took his wife's moment of distraction and cast a binding spell, flinging her wand across the floor. "Go, and go quickly." he commanded, his eyes never leaving Narcissa.

Draco sent his father a thankful look and gently picked up a bleeding Hermione and apparated away, hoping and praying that it wasn't too late to save the love of his life.

* * *

**Well there you have it, another chapter down. I know people might flame, but that's alright. The entire time I was writing this story I've done the obvious, in hopes that when you found out that it was Narcissa, you'd be completely shocked, but still able to see why she did it. **

**The thing with Bellatrix: Narcissa and Bellatrix had been really close, and it had been Harry, Ron, and Hermione's fault that she was killed in that same room (hence the reason she chose that place to attempt killing Hermione). I'm aware that's not how it happened in the book, but that's just how I wrote it lol. **

**This won't be everybody's cup of tea, and I'm aware of that, but it's my story and this is where I wanted it to go. So I do hope you like it, and continue reading, because we're pretty close to the end here. It's likely only going to be two or three more chapters, and then I can put this story to rest. **

**-Lucinda **


	31. Chapter 31

**I appreciate all of your support, &I loved reading your reviews over the last chapter. Thanks lovelies (:**

* * *

Dying was an interesting feeling. It was like swimming in a sea of blackness, not moving up and not moving down, just...stuck. It was even scarier to realize just how easy it was to give in, let go, and sink.

* * *

"Hermione, Love, please wake up. _Please_ wake up."

"Mr. Malfoy, I think you should-"

"Do not," he said tersely, "Attempt to tell me to leave my wife."

The nurse nodded and quickly retreated back out into the hallway.

Draco sat by Hermione's hospital bed, holding her hand, and whispering to her how much he needed her, how much he needed for her to be okay.

"I swear I'll never ask you for anything again, just do this one thing for me. Just wake up, and be okay Hermione. Just wake up and be okay."

* * *

Days went by without any real change, and the doctors didn't really have much to tell Draco, Ginny, Harry, or Ron when they came by to see her.

She was still in a coma, but the majority of her scars had disappeared, save one on her stomach. Draco hardly ever left her side, and only really trusted her in the care of Ginny.

"She's going to be okay Draco. She has every reason in the world to fight like hell to come back to us, to _you_."

He was thankful for the redheaded witch, because if it weren't for her reassuring words, it was likely that he'd end up cracking under everything. He felt so incredibly guilty about what happened to Hermione. It had been his mother the _entire_ time. She'd lied the _entire_ time, to both of them.

He hadn't heard much from his father aside from the fact that the Aurors were questioning Narcissa.

Ginny had just left and Draco was sitting in his usual chair next to Hermione's bed holding her hand, when she stirred, and he could have sworn that she squeezed his hand. He sat up, unsure of whether he should call a nurse or not.

"Hermione...can you hear me?"

She opened her eyes slowly, squinting against the harsh hospital lighting. She opened her mouth to say something, but her voice was pretty much gone, so she settled for one word that she hoped could let him know she was okay.

"Hey,"

Draco had never believed in the saying 'I died of happiness', but hearing Hermione's voice...he felt like he could understand why people said that.

He smiled and carefully leaned over her, pressing a light kiss on her cheek and whispered, "Hey yourself."

She smiled and motioned for him to get her a glass of water.

He stood and crossed the room, pouring her a glass and then handing it to her. She took a sip and cleared her throat.

"How long have I been here?"

"Six days." he said, trying to gauge how much, if anything, that she remembered.

"Well, I suppose I can cross 'grandmother' off Narcissa's list." she said, attempting to make light of the situation.

"Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Try to make this seem like it wasn't a big deal. You could have died Hermione." He said the last part quietly, looking away from her.

"Hey," she said taking his hand in hers, "I'm still here, and I'm okay."

He looked at her and trailed a hand over her cheek, "I'm so-"

"Don't even say it." she said, interrupting him. "This was _not_ your fault. You didn't know, and neither did I. You can't blame yourself for something that was out of your control."

"But-"

"I swear to Merlin if you say it Draco I will hex your mouth closed."

He smiled at her threat. It made him feel like she really was better, back to her old fiesty Gryffindor self.

"Have you heard anything about-"

"Let's not talk about that right now. I just want to focus on you." he said, kissing her nose, but she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a 'real' kiss.

"Merlin I missed that." he said, a slow smile spreading over his face.

At that she laughed and said, "Well how could you not?"

* * *

A week later Hermione was back at home with Draco. She was still somewhat sore, but it wasn't too bad. The only thing that really upset her were the ugly scars that ran from the top left side of her stomach, right under her bra, to the bottom right side of her stomach, right up to the waistband of her jeans. They were ugly and slightly jagged looking, and a constant reminder of what had happened.

"Have you heard from Melissa?" asked Hermione, laying sprawled out on their bed with a book in front of her, as per usual.

Draco nodded and joined her on the bed, moving so that he could rub her back, "She got custody of Railynn again. The Aurors said they couldn't really blame her for agreeing to help Narcissa. They decided that Brian was more at fault, considering he had worked with Pansy to get Railynn out of spite.

"And how is Railynn?"

"Great actually. Andrew told me that they're letting her go home tomorrow."

Draco couldn't help but smile at the absolute joy that overcame Hermione's face. "I'm so, so glad she's okay."

"I'm so, so glad _you're_ okay." he said with a smile.

She rolled so that she was on her back, which caused his hand to slide to her stomach, and she flinched.

"Does it still hurt?" he asked quietly.

She shook her head, but he attempted to lift her shirt to see for himself. She tensed up and pushed his hands away.

"Really, I'm fine."

He studied her for a moment before the realization hit him. "Hermione, do you not want me to see your scars?"

She ignored him, turning her attention back to her book. He groaned in frustration and took the book from her.

"Tell me."

"Fine, yes. Okay? I don't want you to see them."

"Why?"

"Because they're hideous, and I don't want you to look at me like I'm-"

"Hermione if you finish that sentence I swear to Merlin," he took a deep breath and looked down at his wife. "You are beautiful. Every single part of you is beautiful."

"Except my-"

"Even your scars. They tell a story."

"They're ugly."

"All depends on how you look at it. They tell your story, your life-everyone has them. It's what makes you who you are. It made you into the woman you are today. The woman I'm madly in love with."

At that she had to smile, "Madly in love with?"

Instead of responding he moved further onto the bed and pulled her onto his lap. He kissed her softly at first, sliding his hands into her hair.

She moaned softly and let her hands roam his shoulders and into his silky hair. "God I love you."

He chuckled against her mouth and moved down her neck, " I love you too."

* * *

_**Four Months Later...**_

"Narcissa Malfoy, on all counts of attempted murder, torture, use of the Unforgivable Curses, and blatant disregard for the Wizarding World and its rules, you have been found guilty. I sentence you to life in Azkaban."

"Pansy Parkinson, on all counts of conspiracy to murder, trespassing, and breaking and entering on hospital grounds, you have been found guilty. I sentence you to twenty years in Azkaban."

"Lavender Brown, on three counts of conspiracy, you have been found not guilty. On one count of trespassing you have been found guilty, but due to the circumstances surrounding the crime, you have only been sentenced to 6 months monitored house arrest."

Hermione, Draco, Lucius, Ginny, Harry, and Ron all stood in the court, listening as the rulings were made. Draco had refused, at first, to let Hermione go to the hearing. He didn't want her to have to see his mother again-ever. But Hermione had insisted.

And what Hermione wanted, Hermione got. Especially when it came to Draco.

She stood, an impassive look on her face, as the rulings were made and Narcissa and Pansy were escorted out by two Aurors, both of them kicking and screaming along the way.

Ginny hugged Hermione and Harry did the same, before they left to go to a doctors appointment for Ginny. She was due in two months.

"Hermione," Lavender slowly walked over to them, an ashamed look on her face. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know that she was planning on-"

"I know." she said sending a comforting smile her way. "Nobody really knew."

Lavender nodded and turned to Ron, "I have to go get my monitoring ankle bracelet. I'll just meet you back at the flat."

He nodded and watched as she disappeared out of the big wooden doors. He turned back to Hermione and figured that now would be the one chance he'd have to make things right.

"I'm sorry."

"Didn't you just hear me? It's nobody's fault." she said, a silly smile on her face.

He shook his head, "No, I mean I'm sorry for the things I said to you. The things that I did. I'm sorry for everything. You were my best friend and I treated you like absolute shit. I had no right, and I'm so, so sorry."

Hermione was stunned, but only for a second. She walked up to him and pulled him into a hug.

"You'll always be my best friend Ron. You and Harry, always." she whispered.

Ron closed his eyes and hugged her back. He never thought that she'd be able to forgive him for all the shit he'd started, but then again, this was Hermione. She was the most forgiving person he'd ever met.

"I love you, you stupid boy." she said laughing.

He smiled too, "And I love you, you silly bint." With that he walked out to find Lavender.

She turned back around and found a smiling Draco.

"What?"

"I'm happy for you." he said, pulling her into his embrace.

"You're actually happy that Ron and I are okay again?" she asked, shocked.

"It makes you happy, Love. So it makes me happy."

"Remind me again how I got so lucky?"

He chuckled and kissed her sweetly. "Because no one can resist the Slytherin Sex God, not even the Golden Girl."

She laughed with him, "I couldn't agree more."

* * *

**I've only got one more chapter set up after this one and it'll only be an epilogue type thing. Hope you enjoyed (:**


	32. Chapter 32

**So my lovelies, this is it. The last little snippet of Draco and Hermione (at least in this story). So of course I decided to put a little Lemon in there as Draco, Hermione, and my own little parting gift to all of you. (: Enjoy, one last time.**

* * *

"Mommy, mommy, Scorpius pulled my hair!"

Hermione looked up from her book and saw her daughter Rose, and not far behind her was her son Scorpius.

Rose was three and had curly hair like her mother, but had her father's eyes and blonde hair. Scorpius was five and had nothing of Hermione's looks, being all straight blonde hair and grey eyes, but he was exactly like Hermione in attitude. He loved to read and loved learning new things, whereas Rose was more like Draco in that regard.

"Well she broke my toy-"

"After he pulled my hair-"

"Because she-"

"Hey, hey, hey," said Hermione, standing up and walking over to the two children.

"Now one at a time, explain to me what happened. Rose, you go first."

The little girl glared at her brother and said, "Scor pulled my hair really hard and I don't think that's very nice."

Scorpius glared right back at her and said, "I wouldn't have pulled your hair if you hadn't broken my toy."

"Now Scorpius, you know that what you did was wrong. And Rose, you know not to break his toys. Daddy buys each of you enough toys so that you don't have to mess with each others things. So I want you both to apologize to one another."

They both groaned, but Scorpius pulled his little sister into a hug, and she giggled. "I'm sorry Scorpy."

"I'm sorry too Rosie."

Hermione smiled at the two of them and said, "Now that's what I like to see."

"It's what I like to see too."

Hermione looked up and saw Draco standing in the doorway, smiling at them, and not far behind him was Lucius.

"Daddy! Grandpa!" screamed Rose and Scorpius as they ran up and hugged them.

Lucius practically _lived_ at the house. He was always babysitting and spending time with his grandchildren. They were literally his pride and joy. Ever since Narcissa had been sent to Azkaban he had totally transformed from the man that they knew, into someone they truly loved and cared about.

Draco chuckled and kissed the top of each of their heads and then said, "Why don't you two get ready to go over to Auntie Ginny and Uncle Harry's house in a few minutes?"

Rose and Scorpius squealed in excitement, "Does this mean we get to see James, Albus, and Lily?"

Draco nodded and the two ran upstairs to pack together their toys.

"How was your day Love?" asked Draco, helping Hermione off the floor and giving her a kiss.

"It was good. Ron and Lavender sent a postcard from Las Vegas. It looks like they're definitely enjoying their vacation."

Ron and Lavender had gotten engaged, but weren't yet married. They had decided to take a vacation together instead of paying for the expenses of a wedding.

"I'm glad. I enjoyed it while I was there." said Lucius taking a seat on the couch.

"You went to Vegas?" asked Hermione, an eyebrow raised in surprise.

"Draco didn't tell you? He went with me."

Draco groaned and shot his father a glare.

"When did _you_ go to Vegas?"

"Now look what you did father, she's _never_ going to let this one go."

Lucius simply smirked and went upstairs to get Rose and Scorpius.

* * *

Draco, Hermione, Rosie, and Scorpius arrived back at home later than they had expected. Draco was carrying Scorpius and Hermione was carrying Rosie. They both put them to bed and retired to their bedroom on the opposite end of the hall.

Draco laughed, "So I was thinking,"

"About?" she asked, flopping down onto the bed.

He watched her while he took off his jacket and stripped off his shirt.

Hermione was always worrying about the fact that she had 'lost her figure', when in reality she looked just as skinny as she did before she'd had Rose and Scorpius. Draco thought that the fact that she had carried two of his children made her even more attractive.

"About how long it's been since we've had sex." he said, a smirk playing on his lips.

She laughed, "It's been three days Draco."

"Far too long if you ask me." he said, sliding onto the bed on top of her.

She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a kiss. He slid his hands underneath her shirt and pulled it off, revealing an emerald green lace bra.

"Now where have you been hiding that?" he asked with a smirk.

She blushed and said, "I was planning on surprising you. I didn't know you'd beat me to it."

He chuckled and kissed her again before moving to kiss a trail down her neck to the tops of her breasts. She let out a soft moan when he released the clasp of her bra and began massaging one of her breasts while he took the other into his mouth, gently flicking and teasing the sensitive flesh.

She squirmed under him and pulled on his hair, short gasps escaping her parted lips. He repeated his minstrations on her other breast before kissing down her stomach to her jeans.

He unbuttoned and pulled them down, along with her matching green panties, a seductive smirk on his face. He slid his hands up the inside of her thighs, spreading her legs apart. He slowly brought his tongue to her and she instantly bucked her hips forward. He brought his hands to her hips and continued his asault on her. After a few minutes she began to shake and seconds later her orgasm took over.

He kissed his way up her body and back to her lips. Once she'd caught her breath she smirked and flipped them over so she was straddling him.

He looked up at her in surprise, but didn't complain. She slowly kissed her way down his chest to his pants. She undid the button and pulled down the zipper, and then slid his pants down. After tossing them somewhere behind her, she moved her hand over the more than noticeable bulge in his boxers, rubbing up and down slowly.

He let out a soft groan and dropped his head back onto the pillows. She chuckled and tossed his boxers aside as well, taking him into her hand.

She began pumping him up and down at a steady pace, and then brought her lips down to the head capturing his pre cum, before taking all of him into her mouth. She bobbed her head up and down for a couple minutes before Draco pulled her up and flipped them over so he was on top.

He brought his lips to hers in a bruising kiss and thrust himself deep into her, earning an approving moan from Hermione.

He began pumping in and out of her at a steady pace, both of them wound so tight that they were quickly approaching their climax.

"Come for me, Hermione." he whispered, his breath ragged in her ear.

She groaned and clamped down on him, riding out their orgasms together.

After he'd somewhat caught his breath, he rolled so she was lying with her head on his chest, her arm draped over his stomach, and his arms wrapped around her.

"Wow,"

"I take it I've still got it." he said with a satisfied smirk.

She chuckled lightly, "You know you do."

* * *

"Everybody come inside, dinner's ready!"

Hermione, Draco, Ginny, Harry, Lucius, Molly, Arthur, Ron, Lavender, Rosie, Scoripus, Albus, James, and Lily were all having diner together at the Burrow like old times.

The house was filled with children's laughter and adult chatter, just like Molly Weasely had always wanted to have it again.

Although things had been hard, and there'd been many twists and turns and unexpected moments, they had all come out better for it. They had gained family and lifelong friends and that was something that made everything worth while.

No one would have expected Draco and Hermione to make it, and had you told them in their 7th year what lie ahead for them, they surely would have laughed in your face...but now, sitting at the dinner table in the Burrow surrounded by their friends and family, they couldn't be happier.

So it turned out, that for the Lioness and the Serpent, there would be a Happily Ever After.

* * *

**Well that's it...that's really the end. As sad as I am to be ending the story, I'm also really happy. I've done all I can with Draco and Hermione and I leave the rest up for you to figure out. **

**I'd like to assume Lavender and Ron will get married, at some point, but maybe not. I'd also like to think that Lucius might have found somebody too, but I know that even if he doesn't he'll be alright. ****It's all how you want to think of it.**

**I've really enjoyed writing this story for you guys and I hope you all continue to read more of my works in the future, because it can only get better from here. **

**Well, I guess for now this is it. Until next time lovelies. **

**-Lucinda **


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